The four young wolf pups stumble on the dirt, nibbling flat rocks on land in Oakland where their wild ancestors once roamed.

Born seven weeks ago at the Oakland Zoo, the gray wolf pups are thriving — all four are healthy and ready to explore their 2.3 acres of land.

For Darren Minier, assistant director of animal care, conservation and research at the zoo’s California Trail, the milestone is vital not just for the zoo but also for the species.

“Wolves, as a species, have obviously been removed from the vast majority of their landscape across North America,” Minier said. “A lot of the reason for that was westward expansion.”

In the 1800s, wild gray wolves loped amid thick Oakland forests on their descendants’ future zoo grounds. Through the course of a century, a thriving North American population of 2 million wolves would dwindle to 5,000. Over-hunting, removal of their prey and, as Minier points out, westward expansion all led to endangerment.

The pups — two males, two females — now roam around the pale-yellow brush scattered throughout their enclosure. Their mother and father — Siskiyou and Sequoia — joined the zoo only a year ago, arriving from the California Wolf Center, an organization dedicated to the return of wolves to their natural habitats.

Oakland Zoo closed the boardwalk leading to their exhibit for nine months, hoping Siskiyou and Sequoia would acclimate, bond and have a litter of pups. Zoo staff ensured the pups were born healthy and then left them alone with the parents, who were, naturally, overprotective.

“We did give them a chance to be new parents,” Minier said. “Any of us having new kids knows you really don’t want the in-laws coming over every single day.”

Still, the staff at the zoo have every reason to be just as protective.

“It’s kind of like when you have a newborn in general,” said Isabella Linares, the zoo’s marketing assistant. “You just want to make sure that the newborn is totally fine.”

Wolves were extirpated from California in 1924, and are just now starting to enter the state again. The comeback stems from their 1974 listing as an endangered species, after a federal program eradicated them in the lower continental states. The program encouraged hunting of wolves because they killed livestock and hurt farmers’ livelihood.

Last week, federal officials held hearings in Brainerd, Minn., with farmers, ranchers and hunters who want the gray wolf removed from the endangered species list. They cite a U.S. wolf population of 6,000, and say wolves again are killing livestock.

Minier said removal of protected status would not affect the few California native gray wolves because the state government can still protect them.

“There’s a lot of justified concerns; there’s a lot of mythology that surrounds that as well,” Minier said. “We don’t agree with the delisting ... but we do think that these conversations are vitally important to have.”

Zoo officials hope the four pups help continue that conversation. The Oakland Zoo and California Wolf Center are working to engage the public’s support for the safe recovery of the species in California, Minier said.

For Angela Gibson, zoological manager at Oakland Zoo, the pups symbolize a step in the right direction. And the pups, she said, have made her days more heartwarming.

“I think we had new parent syndrome as much as the actual wolves did,” Gibson said. “We’re all vying for the first opportunity to make sure they’re all doing great.”

The pups grayish-green eyes follow their mother Siskiyou as she treks across the brush. They follow with wobbly steps, their dark coloration camouflaged in the landscape. The father trails closely behind them. Together, they comprise a wolf pack — among the only ones in California in over a century.

And Minier said zoo officials hope more will come.

“We’re very optimistic that California, in particular, can be a successful model... where wolves and cattlemen can coexist,” Minier said.

Eduardo Medina is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eduardo.medina@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @byEduardoMedina