Wolves way down on the list of sheep predators

By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer

LIVINGSTON -- The 138 sheep wolves killed in the three states around Yellowstone Park in 2001 represented a 75 percent increase over the 80 sheep wolves killed in 2000, according to the annual U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf report released last week.

But even the higher number is dwarfed by the total number of sheep killings in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

In Montana alone last year, coyotes killed 2,100 sheep and 12,200 lambs, according to a report issued last week by the Montana Ag Statistics Service, a joint project between state and federal departments of agriculture.

Wolves also killed six dogs last year, the FWS report says. But man's best friend can also do some damage of its own.

Domestic dogs killed 500 adult sheep and 600 lambs in Montana, almost eight times as many animals as wolves killed in all three states.

Eagles killed 100 sheep and 1,500 lambs, the NASS report says, while bears killed 200 sheep and 300 lambs. Mountain lions killed 100 sheep and 300 lambs.

The mortality statistics are compiled based on information gathered from ranchers all over the state.

"We ask producers what kind of losses they sustained," Curtis Lund, deputy state statistician, said of the annual survey. The Montana Woolgrowers Association helps pay for the study, he added.

In total, ranchers said predators killed 3,100 sheep and 16,800 lambs, losses that cost them $850,800, the report says.

Diseases, weather, poison, old age and other factors claimed another 38,600 animals, including 1,200 sheep that died like turtles: when their wool became waterlogged, they rolled on their back and they laid there until they died.

Last year's estimate of wolf kills, which FWS agrees might be too low, would have to grow more than eightfold in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming to equal that death category in Montana alone.

"If I were a sheep rancher, wolves would not be my first concern," said David Gaillard, of the Bozeman-based Predator Conservation Alliance.

Cattle losses show similar trends.

Montana ranchers alone lost 3,800 cattle to predators in 2000, the most recent statistics available from the federal Department of Agriculture.

In that year, wolves in the three states killed at least 32 cattle, a number that grew to 40 animals in 2001, the FWS report says.

The three-state loss is the equivalent of less than 1 percent of cattle losses to all predators in Montana alone.

"A penny a pound change in prices makes more difference than wolves do," Bangs said of the beef industry.

However, losses to wolves often are suffered by a handful of small ranches.

Steve Pilcher, executive director of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, noted that calves are worth about $500 each.

"If I pull $500 out of your billfold every couple weeks or so, it might get on your nerves, too," he said.

Bangs agreed that wolves can hurt some producers, though the effect on the region's overall livestock industry is small.

"If you're the guy getting whacked, it's a big deal," Bangs said of losses to wolves.

Many people enjoy having wolves around, Pilcher said, and ranchers agree they are here to stay. Yet they don't appreciate being forced to feed them.

"Even though it's a relatively small number, why is it that the livestock producer has to suffer the costs?" he asked.

The Defenders of Wildlife, a wolf advocacy group, compensates ranchers for proven losses, but Pilcher maintained actual losses are five to seven times as high as the proven ones because rough terrain and other factors make it difficult to prove how an animal died.

Scott McMillion is at scottm@gomontana.com.