There is a multitude of dynamics involved in understanding wolf-livestock conflict risk. Conflict mitigation requires --at the minimum-- understanding of wolf hunting behavior and understanding prey vulnerability.
This document provides a simplified overview of some factors to consider when evaluating and managing conflict risk.
Basic Wolf Hunting Behavior
"as wolves circulate around their territories and encounter and test prey under constantly changing conditions, they gain information about the relative vulnerability of various types of prey to hunting (including finding, catching, and killing). Through trial and error they end up with whatever prey they can capture." - Mech, L. David and Peterson, Rolf O., "Wolf-Prey Relations" (2003). USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. 321.
Wolves inherently have a strong sense of self-preservation. As such, they are continually weighing vulnerability against risk, meaning that wolves evaluate the potential of a successful hunt against the risk of injury or even death to themselves. Unlike bear and lion, wolves are not ambush predators. Wolves are not physically equipped to take down prey in the same manner as bear and lion. Wolves attack from behind, biting at the hind legs and under the forelegs weakening the animal and minimizing their risk of injury or death from a hoof or antler. Thus, wolves will pressure prey to entice them to flee. Getting their prey to run allows them to evaluate which animal is the most vulnerable to single out and put their collective energy toward taking the easiest target. If the prey, however, turns and faces the wolves, standing its’ ground, the risk to the wolf increases. If the wolves are unsuccessful in getting a flight response, in most cases, the wolves will back down and seek more vulnerable options.
Wolves pursuing fleeing Elk
Bison in a herd standing their ground
Vulnerability can also be in the form of a terrain feature that inhibits prey’s ability to escape. When prey becomes trapped or hindered by a landscape feature like deep snow, bog, downfall, fencing, or steep draw, wolves don’t need to take the weakest or slowest animal. They can take a healthy, full-grown elk bull hampered by challenging terrain. As long as the vulnerability outweighs the risk, wolves will take advantage of the circumstances.
Prey Vulnerability and Surplus Killing As with all predators, wolves kill to obtain food. Food all living things need to survive. For wolves, hunting takes a tremendous amount of energy, and most hunting attempts are unsuccessful. Thus, wolves take advantage of prey vulnerability to procure sufficient food with minimal effort and risk. Due to the high risk of injury and the amount of valuable energy it takes to pursue a hunt, wolves don’t kill large prey for “fun” as is at times depicted in the media.
Like many predators, wolves can occasionally take more than can be immediately consumed. Though “surplus” killing is uncommon, it does happen, and generally, this is seen in late winter months when ungulates are more physically compromised. As with any predation event, there always exists a set of circumstances that led to the successful kill. It is no different in the case of surplus killing. Surplus killing = sufficient vulnerability in a group of animals that allows for multiple kills. Prey in a weakened state due to winter severity, deep snow, challenging terrain, herd illness, or prey behavior are some factors that can play into a surplus killing event. If the carcasses are left on the landscape, wolves will generally return to a kill site for several days to continue consuming the remains. However, this isn’t always the case if wolves are on the move, spooked by human presence, chased off by bear, or by the need to return to the den site if they have traveled far in search of food. Surplus kills also provide valuable food resources to other animals via scavenging during the time of year when other carnivores need these resources the most. Thus nothing goes to waste.
Livestock Vulnerability To reiterate, prey vulnerability is a highly influential factor in determining wolf hunting success. Many factors lead to livestock vulnerability. Some examples include:
Response of livestock to predator pressure. This is the #1 factor in livestock vulnerability. Some examples of responses that may decrease or increase vulnerability include:
stand or flee
group or scatter
mother up or leave their calf behind
Terrain/topography.Wolves can and will take advantage of landscape features that lead to increased vulnerability in prey, thus, higher hunting success.
Downfall
Bogs or deep snow
Draws and creek beds
Woody areas
Fencing
Fringe territory (cattle gathered in an open pasture against dense woods)
Mothering instincts of cows
Single/alone animals
Scattered cattle vs. grouped herds
Encounter rate
can be increased by deadstock left on the landscape
can be increased by pasture location in proximity to wolf activity and or prey location/migration routes
Condition/health of livestock
Ungulates mingled with livestock
Static or inflexible grazing plans
Wolves learn and remember the information gained about prey behavior, terrain, locations, and any other physical factors that will help them in their quest for food.
The above information can help in evaluating wolf-livestock conflict risk; there can be any combination of factors and factors not listed in this document.
Keeping the above points in mind can help ranchers make proactive decisions regarding livestock management to reduce the vulnerability of livestock to predation by wolves. When a conflict does occur, there is always a reason or combination of factors specific to that incident. Identifying and understanding these will help in preventing the potential for future events.
Herd Management Stockmanship, herd health and nutrition play a key role in minimizing risk of wolf-livestock conflict.
Stockmanship: Specific stockmanship/cattle handling practices that increase cattle’s tolerance to predator pressure while reinforcing the herd instinct have proven to be very effective in boosting cattle’s natural defense and reducing vulnerability. Proactively spending time working with cattle before wolf presence or conflict vs. reactive action after conflict occurs will further reduce the risk of wolf-livestock conflict.
For example, learning, implementing, and practicing Bud William’s stockmanship principles and techniques has demonstrated significant success in lowering vulnerability in cattle to wolf predation in a sustainable and long-term manner. There exists a direct correlation between how humans handle their cattle and how cattle respond to wolf presence. Through effective communication and proper handling, cattle learn to respond to pressure appropriately rather than react to pressure in a manner that can entice the hunting behavior of the wolf.
Supplemental tools such as hotwire fencing can support these herd management efforts.
Herd Condition Good herd health and nutrition are key to reducing vulnerability in cattle to wolf predation. For example, mineral deficiencies in cattle are a common and addressable cause of vulnerability that leads to predation. Wolves can detect copper and selenium deficiency and will take advantage of the resulting vulnerability to secure a successful hunt. Removing ill or injured animals from a herd decreases the potential encounter rate between wolves and livestock and thus vulnerability of the herd overall.
All these ranch management practices are directly in the rancher’s control vs. trying to control wild wolves. The idea is to manage the cattle vs manage for wolves. This mindset will reduce the risk of predation and increase the strength of the ranch overall.
Additional approaches that reduce the potential for wolf-livestock conflict include moving cattle around the landscape, encouraging grouped herds, and calving season-specific feeding practices.
If you are going to raise prey in predator country, you want to be sure your cattle are the least vulnerable prey on the landscape. -Whit Hibbard
Physical Deterrents Wolves’ evaluation of risk vs. vulnerability and their fear of anything new or unfamiliar makes conflict deterrent tools, e.g., fladry and fox lights, a valuable option. These tools can be very effective short-term in controlled settings such as pastures and calving lots. They are not practical in open range settings. Wolves will learn that these tools do not cause harm or death, and once the risk is no longer perceived to be higher than the potential for food, these tools become ineffective. Thus, it is important to look at ways to make your cattle undesirable for wolves to consider as prey.
For open-range conflict risk management, understanding how the wolves use the landscape, how ungulates use the landscape, and how livestock uses the landscape and understanding the terrain itself can help inform a conflict risk reduction plan. Preparing cattle for open range via specific stockmanship practices that boost cattle defense and encourage herd behavior before turnout plays a vital role in lowering cattle vulnerability. Vulnerability vs. Chronic Depredation Repeated depredations by wolves on livestock are often referred to as “chronic” depredation. However, more often than not, it is a case of vulnerability that can be addressed rather than actual chronic behavior. If you have one ranch experiencing repeated loss due to wolves while the neighbors have had no issues, this leads to the question of why wolves are killing cattle on one ranch and not the neighbors.
This illustrates a classic vulnerability scenario with a specific ranch operation or cattle. There is a window of time, which can vary greatly, in which the vulnerability must be addressed, and most likely can be addressed, to avoid the potential of wolves becoming chronic depredators. If the vulnerabilities are left unaddressed by the compromised ranch, this can lead wolves to become more accustomed to cattle as viable prey, and eventually, the lack of action on the ranch suffering repeated loss can negatively impact not only that ranch but other ranches in the community – even if the neighboring ranches are doing everything right. The goal is to prevent wolves from relating successful hunts to cattle thus potentially creating a chronic situation for the community.
It is critical that each individual operation and the community as a whole, be willing to take steps to evaluate and recognize wolf-livestock conflict risk and be proactive in addressing the vulnerabilities identified.
Considerations for Bigger-Picture Conflict Mitigation Implementing comprehensive, lasting, and sustainable strategies based on adaptive herd, range, and resource management is the key to continued success. Each ranch operation needs to identify approaches that will help meet, not take away from, the overall goals of the ranch and lead to greater returns on investment (financially, emotionally, and energetically) over time while lowering predator-conflict risk.
One understanding is worth a thousand techniques. -Bill Dorance
The presence of wolves can lead to emotionally charged investments that don’t build up the ranch or solve the overall challenges. If a ranch experiences loss, a short-term crisis mode is warranted, but remaining in a crisis mindset won’t solve challenges over the long run. Apart from emergency response measures, focusing on the discovery process first will save valuable time and resources when implementing strategies.
As we look to best-practices in conflict mitigation, it is beneficial to focus less on the conflict or deterrents and scare tactics and more on long-term and sustainable practices that actually address the root cause of the conflict. Rather than managing simply for wolves, manage for what is in the rancher’s control and will help meet the greater ranch goals. Look at conflict risk reduction strategies that fit into and serve the overall needs and desired outcomes for the ranch. Providing conflict mitigation strategies that take valuable time or resources away from the ranch will not work for the long-run. Deterring wolves over thousands of acres is daunting; investing time and energy towards strategies that build the ranch to withstand wolves and lower vulnerability makes more sense.
The key is to prevent loss while adding value. - Hilary Anderson
There is no perfect or one-size fits all solution. Each operation, landscape, and wolf pack is unique. No one can claim that this is easy, especially during the early stages—but it can be done, resulting in success for the ranch on a comprehensive level. Looking toward a community-led and managed approach, resource sharing, and open communication can help the livestock community as a whole.
The combination of understanding, ability to adapt to changing circumstances on the ground, and taking advantage of available support will help avoid unnecessary losses to both cattle and wolves and ensure ranchers can keep ranching in the modern world.
For further information on wolf-livestock conflict risk management, risk reduction strategies, risk assessments, and support available, please reach out anytime. We are here 24/7/360.
For information specific to reducing vulnerability during calving season, click here
Serving California, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon DONATE HEREto support proven, long-term, and sustainable strategies to reduce wolf-livestock conflict, thus protecting both cattle and wolves. For more ways to donate visit ourSUPPORT US! page.