Dear HCN,
“Wolves take a heavy toll
in Montana,” declared the headline (HCN, 9/15/97). At least 30
sheep killed by wolves over a six-week period in the Tobacco Valley
of northwest Montana, according to the story. No doubt the loss of
30 head of sheep – -one of the worst wolf attacks on livestock in
the West’ – is aggravating for a rancher. But is it a heavy toll,
especially when a conservation organization (Defenders of Wildlife)
compensates ranchers for such a loss?
For
perspective, I turned to data from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. It reported that during a single
36-hour blizzard in April 1996, Montana livestock producers lost
24,285 cows and calves and 25,111 sheep and lambs. Now that seems
like a heavy toll! For the record, more than 80,000 head of Montana
livestock perished due to winter weather alone in
1996.
HCN noted that wolves killed 24 sheep and
cattle in Montana in 1996 and a total of five in 1995. Steve
Thompson’s essay in the same issue stated that “Average annual
livestock losses to wolves have been in the single digits since the
mid-1980s’ and that “For every 40,000 cattle and sheep lost in
Montana prior to going to market, only one is killed by wolves.”
Again, that’s a lot of dead livestock never making it to the
slaughterhouse, but it’s hardly due to wolves or other predators.
Weather and disease are what really impact livestock numbers. Seems
like there’s been enough hyperbole about wolves and the economic
devastation they’ll wreak upon their native Northern Rockies
ecosystem without adding fuel to the
fire.
William
Patric
Bozeman,
Montana
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Don’t blame wolves.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
