USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Cattle, sheep, and turkeys were the most common domestic prey during each year of the study (Table 1). Complaints of depredations on those three livestock types composed 88% of all verified complaints (Table 2). An average of 23 cattle, 49 sheep, and 173 turkeys were verified as lost to wolves per year from 1979 through 1986. Although complaints involving cattle were the most common, they were usually characterized by fewer losses per complaint (Table 2). The average number of individuals killed or wounded per verified complaint was clearly related to size (vulnerability) and abundance, ranging from 1.2 for cattle to 53.5 for turkeys (Table 2). There was greater agreement between numbers claimed lost and numbers verified lost for turkeys than for sheep, and especially for cattle (Table 2). The difference probably relates to the relative difficulty of finding remains of calves in the wooded areas where they are often pastured in spring and summer, whereas sheep and turkeys are more often killed in open (nonwooded) pastures. Thirty-nine percent of the 570 cattle claimed killed by wolves were missing cattle. Actual loss of cattle and other livestock to wolves lies between the verified and claimed loss figures (Fig. 2).

Calves constituted 87% of the cattle claimed and 82% of the cattle verified lost, indicating a clear selection by wolves for calves over adult cattle, which are more difficult to kill. This result is comparable to findings in western Canada, where 62 and 66% of the cattle killed by wolves in Alberta and British Columbia were calves (Gunson 1983).

The amount of compensation paid to farmers remained fairly stable from 1977 to 1986, averaging $21,228 (high-$38,606, low-$8,668) per year, even though public awareness of the program probably increased throughout the period (Table 3). The number of farmers who received compensation from the MDA for livestock destroyed by wolves statewide (Table 3) was similar to the number of farms having verified complaints. We believe that farmers were motivated to report claims for possible compensation and that they missed few opportunities to do so. Any complaint to the MDA was relayed to our program. The number of livestock losses authorized for payment by the MDA often slightly exceeded our figures for animals verified as lost to wolves because the MDA used more liberal verification criteria. Compensation was sometimes paid for missing animals after complaints that other livestock were suspected or confirmed killed by wolves, or if wolf depredations had been confirmed at the same farm in previous years.