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OVERVIEW OF PRACTICES TO MINIMIZE WILDLIFE-LIVESTOCK CONFLICTS
Author
Bean, Brian
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2015
Body

A suite of nonlethal deterrents and strategies are available to livestock producers to aid in the reduction or prevention of livestock-predator conflict. These tools include turbofladry, livestock guarding dogs, and light and sound deterrents as well as grazing management and animal husbandry strategies. As predators return to historic suitable habitat it is important that livestock producers, rangeland managers, and relevant agency officials are aware of the tools available and begin implementing them before conflicts arise. In 2008 producers, Defenders of Wildlife and local government started the Wood River Wolf Project, initiated to protect livestock and wolves based on evidence that reactively killing wolves alone failed to prevent future livestock losses. Working together, environmentalists, ranchers, scientists and government officials have nearly eliminated sheep losses to wolves in the Idaho project area while increasing stability of extant wolf packs. The project's methods include nonlethal deterrents and improved animal husbandry techniques, stakeholder trust-building and empowerment, and a unique community-based conflict transformation model. In the project's seven years, only 25 out of more than 25,000 sheep grazing annually in the project area have been lost, and no wolves have been removed. 

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Sacramento, CA
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts