CHAPTER 2: AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 



wolf packs that regularly encounter livestock will depredate sporadically (Bangs and Shivik 2001). Field 

 observations have also indicated that even though an individual wolf or pack may not necessarily injure or 

 kill livestock, livestock can become distressed and agitated when wolves are in the area and sometimes 

 injure themselves in fence lines or on agricultural equipment. Overall, livestock losses appear related to 

 the availability of wild prey, increasing pack size, and the learned behavior of individual wolves. 



Table 3. Cattle and calf inventory, value per head, and death losses in Montana from all causes 1990- 

 1999 (Montana Agricultural Statistics: October 1999, p. 146, information on January 1.). 



Table 4. Annual predator losses (all species combined) and non-predator losses of sheep and lambs 



(number of head) in Montana, 1990-1998, (Montana Agricultural Statistics: October 1999, pp. 

 150-51). 



Figures 9 and 10 display the number of confirmed cattle and sheep depredations by wolves in Montana 

 since wolves first started recolonizing Montana in the mid- 1 980s. The number of wolf depredation 

 incidents generally increased as wolves increased in number and distribution, with some variation from 

 one year to the next. During 1999-2001, an average of 15 cattle and 27 sheep per year were confirmed as 



33 



