Lessons from Wolf Restoration in The Northwestern U.S.

Gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations were deliberately eliminated from nearly all of their historic range in the contiguous United States by 1930. Naturally dispersing wolves from Canada first denned in Montana in 1986. An intense period of scientific research, public outreach, and politics followed and resulted in wolves from western Canada being reintroduced to central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming in 1995 and 1996. The population grew rapidly and at least 1,600 wolves now live in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and parts of eastern Oregon and Washington (NRM). The population has been biologically recovered since December 2003 when at least 663 wolves were present but removal of federal protections was delayed for several years. Packs now occupy mountainous forested habitat in over 130,000 square miles of the NRM. Wolf restoration resulted in both benefits (public viewing, harvest opportunities, funding by tag sales, and restoration of ecological processes) and costs (agency funding, livestock and pet depredation, and competition with big game hunters). Federal, state, and tribal cooperators used a wide variety of deterrents, relocated wolves 117 times, and killed over 2,268 to reduce livestock conflicts. Wolves contributed to reducing some wild ungulate populations and harvest by hunters. Starting in 2009, states began to implement public harvest programs to provide hunter/trapper opportunity, reduce conflict, and meet other objectives. Up to one third of the minimum wolf population was legally killed by humans and as intended, it has helped stabilize the population and reduced conflicts. The NRM wolf population is now being managed similarly to other resident wildlife by the affected States (except Wyoming where litigation caused wolves to remain listed) and Native American Tribes. While the NRM wolf population is biologically healthy, controversy continues as legal, policy, political, and human value issues continue to be debated symbolically through wolves. I discuss the history, science, and politics behind restoring wolves to the NRM and possible implications to future wolf restoration efforts

Gray Wolves and Livestock in Montana: A Recent History of Damage Management

The Montana gray wolf (Canis lupus) population grew from 2 wolves in 1979 to a minimum of 316 by late 2006. Resolving conflicts, both perceived and real, between wolves and livestock became a dominant social issue for the federal recovery program, and it remains so today. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and now Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks work with United States Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services to reduce depredation risks and address wolf-related conflicts through a combination of non-lethal and lethal management tools. The number of wolf complaints investigated from 1987-2006 increased as the population increased and expanded its distribution into Montana after reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho during 1995 and 1996. Montana wolf packs routinely encountered livestock, though wolf depredation was a relatively rare cause of livestock death and difficult to predict or prevent. Cattle and sheep were killed most often from March to October, although losses were confirmed each month. From 1987 to 2006, wolves killed 230 cattle and 436 sheep. However, confirmed losses probably represent a fraction of actual wolf losses. Few other types of livestock classes were killed. Conflicts are addressed on a case-by-case basis, striving to connect the agency response to the damage in space and time and to decrease the potential for future losses. Lethal control is implemented incrementally after predation was verified, and 254 wolves were killed from 1987 to 2006. Only complete removal of either wolves or livestock eliminates the potential for wolf depredation. The continued presence of a viable wolf population requires that a wide variety of non-lethal and lethal tools be investigated and implemented. That combination will also be required to maintain local public tolerance of wolves where the two overlap and to foster broad public acceptance of techniques used to minimize conflicts. Resolving wolf and livestock conflicts at a local scale is but one component of a larger state wolf conservation and management program. When wolves are delisted, regulated public harvest will allow us to more proactively manage the population

Managing wolf conflict with livestock in the Northwestern United States

Wolves (Canis lupus) were once common throughout North America but were deliberately exterminated in the lower 48 United States, except in northeastern Minnesota, primarily because of depredations on livestock. Wolves remained abundant in areas with few livestock such as most of Canada and Alaska. Sixty years after being nearly exterminated, the gray wolf was listed under the United States Endangered Species Act (Act) in 1974. The combination of natural recovery in NW Montana, and reintroduction in central Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone area (NW Wyoming, eastern Idaho, and SW Montana) has resulted in an expanding wolf population (Bangs et al. 1998). In this paper we discuss our attempts to minimize conflicts between wolves and livestock and to build human tolerance for restoring wolf populations

Electronic aversive conditioning for managing wolf predation

Electronic training collars have previously been used to condition captive predators not to attack livestock and other prey, but the use of aversive collars in actual management situations involving wild predators has not been scientifically evaluated and published. We adapted and tested commercially available dog training collars in an actual management situation involving wild wolves. Because we temporarily held wolves in captivity, we also discuss the use of pens as a tool that provides management flexibility. Three packs that had been implicated in killing livestock were held at a pen facility at the Flying D Ranch near Bozeman, Montana. Wolves from 2 packs were used in training collar experiments. We ran trials using bison calves, domestic cow calves, and hides to test equipment and the behavioral conditioning paradigm. In our program, we were unable to condition wolves not to attack livestock because of a variety of logistical and behavioral reasons. We concluded that temporarily holding wolves at a small, moderately accessible facility is of limited use for determining the utility of aversive conditioning as a wolf predation management technique. More research is necessary to effectively apply electronic training collars to wolf management. However, we determined that maintaining holding pens for wolves provides flexibility to managers in translocation efforts. Because wolves in our studies survived to reproduce, our collaborative efforts have made a significant contribution to wolf recovery

Electronic aversive conditioning for managing wolf predation

Electronic training collars have previously been used to condition captive predators not to attack livestock and other prey, but the use of aversive collars in actual management situations involving wild predators has not been scientifically evaluated and published. We adapted and tested commercially available dog training collars in an actual management situation involving wild wolves. Because we temporarily held wolves in captivity, we also discuss the use of pens as a tool that provides management flexibility. Three packs that had been implicated in killing livestock were held at a pen facility at the Flying D Ranch near Bozeman, Montana. Wolves from 2 packs were used in training collar experiments. We ran trials using bison calves, domestic cow calves, and hides to test equipment and the behavioral conditioning paradigm. In our program, we were unable to condition wolves not to attack livestock because of a variety of logistical and behavioral reasons. We concluded that temporarily holding wolves at a small, moderately accessible facility is of limited use for determining the utility of aversive conditioning as a wolf predation management technique. More research is necessary to effectively apply electronic training collars to wolf management. However, we determined that maintaining holding pens for wolves provides flexibility to managers in translocation efforts. Because wolves in our studies survived to reproduce, our collaborative efforts have made a significant contribution to wolf recovery

Gray Wolf Restoration in the Northwestern United States

Gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations were eliminated from Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, as well as adjacent southwestern Canada by the 1930s. After human-caused mortality of wolves in southwestern Canada began to be regulated in the 1960s, populations began expanding southward. Dispersing individuals occasionally reached the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, but lacked legal protection there until 1974, after passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 1986, wolves from Canada successfully raised a litter of pups in Glacier National Park, Montana, and a small population was soon established. In 1995 and 1996, wolves from western Canada were reintroduced to remote public lands in central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. These wolves were designated as nonessential experimental populations to increase management flexibility and address local and state concerns. Wolf restoration is rapidly occurring in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, and there were at least 28 breeding pairs in December 2000. There are now about 63 adult wolves in northwestern Montana, 192 in central Idaho, and 177 in the Greater Yellowstone area. Dispersal of wolves between Canada, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming has been documented. Occasional lone wolves may disperse into adjacent states, but population establishment outside of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming is probably not imminent. The gray wolf population in the northwestern U.S. should be recovered and, depending on the completion of state and tribal wolf conservation plans, could be proposed to be removed from Act protection within three years. Wolf restoration has proceeded more quickly and with more benefits, such as public viewing than predicted. Problems, including confirmed livestock depredations, have been lower than estimated. The Service led interagency recovery program focuses its efforts on achieving wolf recovery while addressing the concerns of people who live near wolves. Wolves have restored an important ecological process to several large wild areas in the northern Rocky Mountains of the U.S. The program has been widely publicized and is generally viewed as highly successful

Non-Lethal and Lethal Tools to Manage Wolf-Livestock Conflict in the Northwestern United States

Gray wolf populations were eliminated from the northern Rocky Mountains of the western United States by 1930, largely because of conflicts with livestock. The wolf population is now biologically recovered and over 1,020 wolves are being managed in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming under the federal Endangered Species Act. From 1987 to December 2005, 528 cattle, 1,318 sheep, 83 dogs, 12 goats, 9 llamas, and 6 horses were confirmed killed by wolves, and over $550,000 was paid from a private damage compensation fund. To help restore the wolf population, we used 22 variations of non-lethal control tools, relocated wolves 117 times, and killed 396 wolves to reduce conflict between wolves and livestock. A variety of tools, including regulations that empower the local public to protect their private property, reduced the probability of wolf-caused damage. This wolf population was restored, the risk of livestock damage reduced, and public tolerance of wolves improved through an integrated program of proactive and reactive non-lethal and lethal control tools. Reduced conflict increases the potential to restore wolf populations

Non-Lethal and Lethal Tools to Manage Wolf-Livestock Conflict in the Northwestern United States

Gray wolf populations were eliminated from the northern Rocky Mountains of the western United States by 1930, largely because of conflicts with livestock. The wolf population is now biologically recovered and over 1,020 wolves are being managed in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming under the federal Endangered Species Act. From 1987 to December 2005, 528 cattle, 1,318 sheep, 83 dogs, 12 goats, 9 llamas, and 6 horses were confirmed killed by wolves, and over $550,000 was paid from a private damage compensation fund. To help restore the wolf population, we used 22 variations of non-lethal control tools, relocated wolves 117 times, and killed 396 wolves to reduce conflict between wolves and livestock. A variety of tools, including regulations that empower the local public to protect their private property, reduced the probability of wolf-caused damage. This wolf population was restored, the risk of livestock damage reduced, and public tolerance of wolves improved through an integrated program of proactive and reactive non-lethal and lethal control tools. Reduced conflict increases the potential to restore wolf populations