Wolves at carcasses won’t be shot by feds
Sublette cattle die-off attributed to illness; remains will be removed.
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
August 19, 2009
Carcasses left after an illness killed cattle on a grazing allotment in Sublette County drew predators to the area, prompting federal wolf managers to work with ranchers to remove the dead animals rather than the wolves.
Federal wolf workers investigated seven cattle carcasses in the Upper Green River Drainage on Aug. 1, said Mike Jimenez, Wyoming wolf recovery project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
They determined that one cow was killed by wolves, two were killed by bears, and the remaining four died of a disease called brisket, which can cause congestive heart failure in cattle when they’ve been moved to high altitudes.
A week later, nine more carcasses were reported, two of which were killed by bears. The remaining cattle died from brisket.
Wildlife managers can tell what kind of predator killed livestock by looking at the bite marks on the carcasses or the inside of the dead animal’s hide, Jimenez said.
“Bears and wolves kill things very distinctly,” he said. “Bears tend to bite along the back; sometimes skulls are crushed.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say they refrained from killing wolves in a nearby pack because the predators were likely attracted to the area by the carcasses.
Also, wolves killed only one head of stock.
“If wolves are drawn into an area by attractants, we’re not going to kill wolves until [the situation] is rectified and cleaned up,” Jimenez said.
“They’re very opportunistic. They come through and rummage around and find dead things.”
Having a large number of carcasses “increases the risk that they’ll come in and test those other animals,” Jimenez said.
“If there’s no dead livestock, they’re going to test those [live cattle] like they would deer, elk, moose or anything else,” he said.
Wolves don’t develop a preference for beef once they scavenge a cattle carcass, Jimenez said.
“It has nothing to do with ‘they ate beef once and now they’re going to eat beef,’” he said.
The stockmen are working with Fish and Wildlife to remove the carcasses, Jimenez said.
“We’re trying to help livestock producers minimize livestock loss,” he said. The area where the sick cattle died is fairly accessible, and removing the carcasses wasn’t inordinately difficult.
“We’ve all sat down and talked with the producers and I think we’ve got it resolved.”
Cattle carcasses on grazing allotments are not uncommon said Ed Bangs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator for the northern Rockies.
“There’s always livestock carcasses laying around all the time,” he said. “If it’s within the normal scope, it’s not a big deal. There are a few cases when there are large numbers for an extended period of time. It’s essentially a big bait pile. You just need to clean up the mess.
“We’ve come across this situation maybe a handful of times,” Bangs said.
“This situation doesn’t warrant wolf control,” he said. “Rather than just shoot the wolves or the bears, we get rid of the carcasses.”
