Wolves Sheep Cows

Wolves Sheep Cows

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
“About three days before the wolf attack on my cow, I believe there were seven sheep that were killed within 2 miles of where the cow was attacked. They are getting to be a pretty big problem in that area. It is the Umatilla pack.” You just heard from Oregon rancher Mark Lane after his cowherd was attacked by two collared wolves in his pasture. Moving to the subject of the sheep that were attacked, I wanted an opinion on the subject so I called Stan Boyd, Executive Director of the Idaho Wool Growers Association: “As a guy who sits on the sidelines and talks to damaged sheep ranchers, and with no disrespect to environmental movements but how do these folks justify not wanting to manage, and I use that in a nice way, a population of animals that devastate livestock, devastate ungulate populations and, left unchecked, simply will multiply beyond our capability to contain them? I have never been able to understand their thought process so I figure you just have to ask those folks that question. I agree. It is beyond comprehension that we were going to reintroduce wolf populations in Idaho and not have to manage them. By manage them I mean kill them. You are going to have to use lethal measures to keep that population within a manageable group. If you don’t, their populations become so large and they lack the prey base and that's when they come down and foray into agricultural areas and that’s where they really start to cause damage.”
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