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January 20, 2011

On the Front Lines of Controversy:

OX assists study of wolf-livestock interactions

As wolf populations have grown in the northern Rocky Mountains, including in Idaho, incidents of wolf predation on cattle and sheep have increased.

Rough tallies are annually made on livestock death and injury losses caused by wolf predation, but little is known about the indirect effects of wolf-livestock interactions on cattle production.

Casey and Cindy Anderson helped collect data and gather facts about the wolf presence on the OX for a research project* carried out in western Idaho-northeastern Oregon on how cattle work the country with and without the presence of wolves.

Cattle movements and pasture usage on the OX are all recorded on computer. Therefore Casey believed he had some history that would be of assistance in this study.

"The main push for the study is to come up with alternative management plans to try to deal with the problems associated with livestock production relating to the presence of wolves," he explains. He says he believes it will be a useful tool for cattlemen and conservationists alike.

On the OX, 10 mature cows from a cow-calf herd of 450 head were fitted with GPS collars that recorded their movement data every 5 minutes. A 90-pound (lb.) male wolf from a nearby pack of 13 was also fitted with a GPS collar that recorded his movements every 15 minutes. Data was collected to determine the timing, frequency, duration and landscape position of wolf-cow interactions at 500, 250 and 100 meters during the 2009 grazing season.

Between May 23 and Nov. 3, a 137-day duration, that one collared wolf was recorded within 500 meters of GPS-collared cattle 783 times. Interestingly, the GPS tracking data indicated the collared cows were typically widely separated from each other and only on rare occasions would two or more collared cows come together for a time.

"From this you can understand how many times all the cows in that herd are coming into contact with wolves, and why we are really noticing cattle behavior patterns and cattle distribution problems," Casey says.

He adds that researchers thought those 10 collared cows would only come into contact with the collared wolf about two or three times in that period.

"Some of this data is totally amazing," he points out. "The perimeter of this wolf's range is 55 miles. Between July 1 and 14, the least amount he traveled in a day was 6 miles; the most he traveled was 19 miles a day. In the total time he was collared, the most he traveled in one day was 29 miles." As this data shows, wolves can cover a lot of country in a short period of time.

"We have had some people on the other side of this issue really take offense to some of the scientific information we've been finding," he remarks.

This study also indicated that human presence and activity were not a strong deterrent to the collared wolf — or other wolves, in fact. During the study, the OX had 14 confirmed and probable cattle depredations in an adjacent calving pasture frequented by humans and close to ranch buildings and homes. The ranch only weaned 80% of calves from this herd, vs. 95% prior to wolf presence.

Casey further adds, "One day the collared wolf spent all day within 370 yards of where our lodge and one of our houses are on the ranch. It came right down into the orchard, within 50 yards of the lodge that day.

Comment on this article."We've had these wolves travel within 25 yards of our house. We have data that shows how close this collared wolf came to the different residences in this area. People would be pretty amazed if they knew how close these wolves were to their houses where they live.

"This is a misconception with most people — they think 'Well the wolves, they're in the wilderness. They're not hurting anybody.' No, they're right in your backyard," he asserts.

*This research study was financially supported by the Oregon Beef Council, USDA/Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, USDA/Agricultural Research Service, Cooperating Ranches and Ranch Families, Oregon Agricultural Experiment, University of Idaho and Oregon State University.

Editor's Note: This article accompanied a larger feature story in the January 2011 Angus Beef Bulletin. Click here to read the full story.

 

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