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Hunting wolves reduces livestock deaths measurably, but minimally, according to new study
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Hunting gray wolves does reduce livestock loss in the Northern Rocky Mountains, but not in a way that is “particularly consistent, widespread or strong,” according to new research led by the University of Michigan. Image credit: Ellie Attebery. This work is licensed under CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).
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An international research team led by the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) has revealed quantitative impacts of wolf hunts, providing policymakers with new data that can be used to combat livestock loss. The researchers, including Neil Carter, associate professor at SEAS, say this is an important part of a small but growing body of research that brings relevant information to a charged debate about wolf management strategies.
“Hunting, on the whole, is not removing negative impacts associated with wolves. It does have some effect on rates of livestock loss, but the effect is not particularly consistent, widespread or strong,” says Carter, senior author of the study.
Published in the journal Science Advances, the study showed that, on average, each wolf that was killed by a hunter was associated with a 2% reduction in predation. The team also analyzed how hunting affected “lethal removals," which are expensive operations led by government agencies, targeting specific wolves, typically after multiple or severe predation events. They found that hunting led to no reduction in lethal removals.
The lead author of the study is Leandra Merz, assistant professor at San Diego State University, who worked on the project as a postdoctoral scholar at SEAS.
The research team also included collaborators from the University of Idaho, Washington State University, Ohio State University and the GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Germany.
Study: Elusive effects of legalized wolf hunting on human-wolf interactions (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adu8945)