Living with Wolves 1

Living with Wolves 1

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
“We lost our first two calves in 1996.” Rancher Bill Davis and his herd of cattle live with wolves in their midst. Since 1996, Davis has had over 40 confirmed cattle deaths due to wolves. “I have witnessed it 40 times. I'm sick of it. These calves die because they have been ran to total exhaustion. Then they go down. They’ll hit a mud hole. They'll do something and go down. Then the wolves will chew on them until there is enough trauma. They leave but there is enough trauma left that releases toxins that shuts down the kidneys and the internal organs and that’s what they die from. They do not ever kill the animal by any humane means known to man. It must take hours for these calves to die.” Davis and other livestock ranchers in the west central mountains of Idaho recently met with USDA APHIS officials for discussion and updates. Wolf numbers, control methods and government red tape in dealing with depredation claims and payments dominated the conversation. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is a multi-faceted Agency with a broad mission area that includes protecting and promoting U.S. agricultural health, regulating genetically engineered organisms, administering the Animal Welfare Act and carrying out wildlife damage management activities. These efforts support the overall mission of USDA, which is to protect and promote food, agriculture, natural resources and related issues. Davis says that APHIS officials need to listen carefully to his experiences which we’ll talk about tomorrow.

 

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