A perspective on livestock wolf interactions on western rangelands

Stewart Breck, Patrick Clark, Larry Howery, Douglas Johnson, Bryan Kluever, Samuel Smallidge, Andres Cibils

Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationArticle

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The challenges associated with wolf restoration programs vary regionally and depend on a myriad of interacting factors. Actual predation events, as well as social and environmental factors, can influence vigilance rates of prey species that forage in the presence of predators. Moreover, prey response to a particular predator species may vary depending on the environmental and evolutionary history of predator?prey relationships, as well as on the unique hunting strategy of the predator species. A more complicated situation exists on rangelands occupied by livestock, wild ungulates, and wolves. Some recent work has been done in the northern Rocky Mountains, but most of our limited understanding of wolf?livestock interactions is based primarily on older studies from Canada, Europe, and the upper Midwest. The extent and magnitude of wolf reintroduction effects on regional livestock production, however, remain largely unknown. In fact, considerable controversy exists regarding the effect of wolves on livestock-rearing systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages6-11
Number of pages6
Volume34
No5
Specialist publicationRangelands
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Ecology
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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