Thesis
Wolf predation on livestock in Washington
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2017
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100508
Abstract
Predation by wolves (Canis lupus) on livestock is one of the largest sources of controversy surrounding their presence in the western United States. Predation on livestock by wolves often occurs in remote and rugged landscapes, and can be difficult to detect, so the true extent of wolf predation on livestock is often unknown. We collected empirical data on the extent of wolf predation on livestock by documenting kills found at Global Positioning System (GPS) location clusters from wolves in 10 different wolf packs that overlapped grazing areas of cattle (Bos taurus) or sheep (Ovis aries) from 2014 to 2016 (3 grazing seasons) in Washington state. We examined over 2,500 cluster locations and documented 444 kill sites. Statewide, livestock comprised 6% of the kills and 94% were wild prey. Of the wild prey, mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) considered together were the most common prey at 50%, followed by moose (Alces alces) at 27%, and elk (Cervus elaphus) at 9%. At the wolf pack level, livestock made up between 0% and 67% of the kills, however 9 out of the 15 pack years had 0 livestock kills and only 1 of 5 packs that killed cattle had > 5% of kills consist of cattle. Adjusted mean kill rate for all packs for all prey types was 0.43 kills/day/pack (k/d/p) (S.E. ± 0.04), or about 79 kills/pack (95% C.I. 58-99 kills) for the 184-day long summer season. Adjusted mean kill rate on cattle was 0.021 k/d/p (S.E ± 0.015), or 3.9 cattle kills/grazing season/pack (95% C.I. 0-9.8 kills). Kill rates on sheep for the two packs that killed sheep were 0.05 k/d/p and 0.15 k/d/p, which give estimates of 9.6 and 27.7 sheep kills/grazing season/pack respectively. Mean predation rate for cattle was 0.003 kills/cow/season (SE ± 0.001) or about 3 wolf killed cattle/1000 cattle in a wolf pack territory. Our results show that the vast majority (94%) of wolf prey in Washington is wild ungulates. Depredations on livestock by wolves were uncommon and could be characterized as localized and acute rather than widespread and common.
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Details
- Title
- Wolf predation on livestock in Washington
- Creators
- Gabriel Richard Spence
- Contributors
- Robert B. Wielgus (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Environment, School of the (CAHNRS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525271901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis