1. Effects of wolf removal on livestock depredation recurrence and wolf recovery in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming
- Author
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Todd Grimm, Justin A. Gude, Michael D. Jimenez, Elizabeth H. Bradley, Hugh S. Robinson, Edward E. Bangs, and Kyran E. Kunkel
- Subjects
education.field_of_study ,Ecology ,biology ,business.industry ,Hazard ratio ,Significant difference ,Population ,biology.organism_classification ,Canis ,Grazing ,Management methods ,Breeding pair ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Medicine ,Livestock ,business ,education ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Nature and Landscape Conservation ,General Environmental Science ,Demography - Abstract
Wolf (Canis lupus) predation on livestock and management methods used to mitigate conflicts are highly controversial and scrutinized especially where wolf populations are recovering. Wolves are commonly removed from a local area in attempts to reduce further depredations, but the effectiveness of such management actions is poorly understood. We compared the effects of 3 management responses to livestock depredation by wolf packs in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming: no removal, partial pack removal, and full pack removal. We examined the effectiveness of each management response in reducing further depredations using a conditional recurrent event model. From 1989 to 2008, we documented 967 depredations by 156 packs: 228 on sheep and 739 on cattle and other stock. Median time between recurrent depredations was 19 days following no removal (n = 593), 64 days following partial pack removal (n = 326), and 730 days following full pack removal (n = 48; recurring depredations were made by the next pack to occupy the territory). Compared to no removal, full pack removal reduced the occurrence of subsequent depredations by 79% (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.21, P
- Published
- 2015
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