In the Tobacco Valley of northwest Montana, wolves
killed at least 30 sheep in six weeks. One rancher lost 28 animals
on a single night in June, prompting the nonprofit Defenders of
Wildlife to shell out its largest-ever wolf-kill reimbursement –
$4,000.
This was one of the worst wolf attacks on
livestock in the West, and the worst in Montana since the wolf
reintroduction program began in 1995. Montana wildlife officials
destroyed two male wolves in the Murphy Lake pack to end the
attacks.
That seems to have solved the problem,
says Larry Handegard, Montana’s director of Wildlife Services. “We
did not involve the other pack members in our capture,” he says. “I
think it’s worked out pretty well.”
Defenders of
Wildlife has spent some $35,000 compensating 40 ranchers for
livestock lost to wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Wolves
killed 24 sheep and cattle in Montana last year and just five in
1995.
But Defenders of Wildlife representative
Hank Fischer says the numbers of dead sheep are at or below those
predicted, and he believes most ranchers support bringing back the
wolves as long as they are compensated for damages. “This is a
basic fairness issue,” says Fischer. “If we’re the ones who want
the wolves, we’re the ones who should be paying for them.”
Some ranchers, of course, are less forgiving. As
an angry Montana sheep owner who recently immigrated from Russia
told the Associated Press Aug. 4, “What for I raising the sheep? To
feed the wolves?”
*Emily
Miller
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wolves take heavy toll in Montana.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
