CHAPTER 1: AFKICCTED ENVIRONMENT 



wolf kills. This level of loss is <0.5% of the total death losses for cattle and sheep, respectively, in the 

 state. However, as indicated above, these losses accrue to individual producers and only represent dead 

 livestock that were confirmed killed by wolves. There were no confirmed cases of wolves killing dogs or 

 llamas until 1995. Figure 1 1 displays confumed dog and llama losses from 1995-2001. 



WS field investigation reports summarize the evidence examined and confirm if wolves were the cause of 

 livestock injury or death. Up until recently, Montana WS personnel did not officially categorize 

 "probable" or "possible" wolf losses. However, these types of losses are now incorporated into field 

 investigative procedures. The number of confirmed wolf-caused losses is expected to underestimate total 

 livestock losses due to wolves because of insufficient evidence, lack of a carcass, or carcass visitation by 

 more than one predator. The potential for unconfirmed and/or undocumented losses is problematic for 

 individual livestock producers because unconfirmed losses are not covered by Defenders of Wildlife, a 

 non-governmental conservation organization which has reimbursed owners for confirmed livestock losses 

 through its privately funded compensation trust fund. It can also be problematic for livestock producers if 

 losses are categorized as probable, because the Defenders of Wildlife compensates probable losses at 50% 

 of the market value. 



One study in Idaho examined interactions between wolves and domestic calves within the USPS 

 Diamond Moose Grazing Allotment in central Idaho to evaluate the role of wolf predation on calf survival 

 and movements (Oakleaf 2002). However, in Montana, there are limited sources of information available 

 about wolf-cattle interactions in order to estimate the potential extent of unconfirmed wolf losses. WS 

 investigative reports of wolf complaints may provide some insight. Table 6 indicates the number of 

 domestic animals investigated, but not verified killed or injured by wolves. Some of these animals 

 suffered injuries or death for reasons that, according to the WS agent conducting the investigation, were 

 not wolf related while others may have been injured or killed by wolves, but the evidence is not sufficient 

 to confirm it truly was a wolf 



WS field investigative reports of wolf-related complaints were reviewed for the calendar years 1999-2001 

 (WS unpubl. data). Those incidents which were noted as obviously caused by something else (e.g. 

 noxious weeds or lightening) were not considered further. The remainder of the investigations that were 

 officially unconfirmed as wolf-caused were tallied as "potential" wolf losses for the purposes of this EIS. 

 Examples of investigative conclusions for "potential" wolf losses were "scavenged" or "undetermined." 

 Defenders of Wildlife payment records were cross referenced to ensure that these "potential" losses were 

 not compensated as "probable" wolf losses. Table 6 summarizes those livestock losses that were 

 officially unconfirmed as wolf-caused by WS, but may have potentially been caused by a wolf Because 

 the public identified unconfirmed losses as an issue, these data will also be used to estimate economic 

 losses due to unconfirmed losses (see Chapter 4). While even these data probably underestimate actual 

 losses, they are the best available data for Montana at the present time. 



Since 1987, Defenders of Wildlife (a conservation organization) has administered a wolf compensation 

 trust to reimbur.se ranchers in the northern Rockies for confirmed livestock losses caused by wolves. 

 Table 7 shows total payments since 1987. Payments are depicted by state boundary for Montana, Idaho, 

 and Wyoming, irrespective of federal wolf recovery area boundaries. These payments may not fully 

 compensate ranchers for their wolf-related losses to the extent that depredation is underestimated, and to 

 the extent that ranchers incur indirect costs related to wolves such as fence repair and additional costs of 

 managing livestock - wildlife interactions. Economic impacts of confirmed and "potential" livestock 

 losses are addressed in Chapter 4. 



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