Wolf Conflict-Deterrence Updates for 2015

Although wolves are active throughout the year, most conflicts with livestock occur from July to September in Washington and other western states. By then, ranchers have moved their livestock out of fenced winter pastures and onto summer grazing lands. Meanwhile, as wolf pups are weaned and becoming more mobile, packs focus on finding ways to meet their growing nutritional requirements.

To meet this challenge, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) works throughout the year to monitor wolf packs and help ranchers protect their livestock during the summer months. In May 2015, the WDFW Wildlife Program developed Wolf-Livestock Deterrence Plans for 15 of the state’s 16 known wolf packs, outlining potential risks for predation and identifying measures in place to minimize attacks on livestock.

Together, these plans reflect a heightened state of readiness to deter conflicts between wolves and livestock during summer of 2015:

• WDFW Conflict Staff: As of May, WDFW had 17 Conflict Staff members dedicated to helping farmers and ranchers adopt measures to protect their crops and livestock. This compares to 14 staff members dedicated to this work in 2014 and 2 in 2011.
• Damage prevention agreements: WDFW had 41 active agreements with livestock owners in May, compared with 33 at the same time last year. These agreements provide cost-sharing arrangements for ranchers who invest in non-lethal measures â€" such as range riders, guard dogs, fladry, and carcass pits â€" to protect their livestock.
• Range riders: WDFW has 5 range riders under contract â€" up from 3 last year â€" that it can deploy to help protect livestock in Eastern Washington. In addition, all livestock owners who have signed an agreement with WDFW qualify for cost-sharing arrangements for range riders.
• Radio collars: At least one wolf in 10 of the state’s 16 wolf packs was fitted with a radio collar as of May 2015, compared to at least one wolf in 6 of 13 packs last year. At least one wolf in all 5 packs identified as presenting the greatest risk of preying on livestock is fitted with a radio collar.

WDFW plans to update its Wolf-Livestock Deterrence Plans periodically as circumstances change.

^* The Whitestone Pack's range is within the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and therefore outside WDFW's jurisdiction.