Amanda Norton

Dr. Cori Brewster

Writing 222
3/18/15
Wolves Over Kill on Livestock
The grey wolf is a majestic predator that once roamed all over the United Stateswith
time it was put into extinction in Oregon and other states. In the1970s grey wolves were placed
under federal protection because of their placement on the endangered species list. This list was
put into act in 1973 by the U.S. government to help protect plants and animals that are likely to
become extinct or will become endangered in the near future. It was clear that the wolves need to
be put on this list because there were very few left in the United States. However, it may not
have been necessary to reintroduce them into Yellowstonewhich helped move along their
migration into other states and more specifically Eastern Oregon. Oregon has many ranches that
rely on their livestock for their livelihood and wolves threaten this. They kill or brutally injure
livestock and sometimes farm dogs. There is no solution thus far to this problem that is not
harmful but ranchers need more than just non-lethal protection methods.
Wolves are known to mainly hunt Ungulates, a term for hoofed mammals. The
Ungulates that wolves hunt in the wild are elk, deer, and caribou but will also hunt smaller
mammals that make for easy prey. Cows, sheep, other livestock, and even a domestic dog can
fall under a wolfs prey. It is true that they will often leave people alone and rarely attack a
human but that does not stop them from attacking animals that ranchers raise. A wild animal can
be unpredictable and do the possibility of a grey wolf attacking a human should not be ruled out.
In an article by Heather Thomas Wolves Economic Bite On Cattle Goes Way Beyond Predation,

it says When wolf numbers are controlled, wolves tend to stay farther back in the high country
states Anderson, manager of the OX Ranch near Council, ID. When theyre protected, they lose
their fear of humans (Wolf Biology and Behavior). That is more of a reason to keep the wolf
population in check but either way ranchers need to be able to protect their livestock even if it
means killing the wolf.

Wolves are natural predators, it is in their nature to hunt, catch, kill, and eat their prey.
According to an article Wolf Biology and Behavior, Wolves typically attack the hindquarters,
flanks, shoulders, nose, and tail of their prey (westernwildlife.org). In this picture it can be seen
how injuries on livestock matches to how wolves attack. This picture is from a confirmed wolf
attack that happened in Eastern Oregon ("Wolf Attacks Eastern Oregon Rancher's Cow"). It is
possible for other predators to sometimes attack the same areas in a hunt but if ranchers could
hunt the animal that is causing trouble they will be able to know what they are dealing with.
Thomas explains a study that tracks the interaction that collared wolves have with collared cattle.
This study was meant to see how often the wolves interact and how close they get to the cattle.
From this study it was observed that All 10 collared cows had interactions within 250 yards,
and nine cows had interactions at 100 yards or less (beefmagazine.com). This data doesnt
prove that the wolves were attacking the cattle but it does prove that they were in the area and
often close to the cows. Thus causing stress on the cows because they can sense the danger of a
predator in the area. Thomas introduces Pat Clark a range scientist involved with the study that
believes with the data they can look to see if the wolves were in the area when there were attacks
on the cattle.

There are many reports in Eastern Oregon of wolf attacks on livestock; however, the
Oregon Department of Fish &
Wildlife (ODFW) has confirmed a
few. ODFW confirmed an attack
on a cow that was injured and then
a few days later four sheep and
three lambs were found dead in
their pens. In the investigation
report of the attack on the sheep
and lambs it stated, The large
number and location of bite
wounds on the dead adult ewes
was typical of wolf hind end,
medial and lateral surfaces of hind
legs, behind front shoulders,
brisket area, and throat (www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves). Thus confirming that it was a wolf attack
they were also able to track GPS data of an adult male of the Umatilla wolf pack in the area
around the time of the attacks.
Another example of an attack on livestock by wolves occurred in the Umatilla County.
ODFW reports that the Mount Emily pack was located by GPS in the area that the attacks
occurred in. According to an article reporting on the incident in the union bulletin The pack
roams an area north of La Grande and east of Imbler, Ore., and is one of eight wolf packs in
Oregon (union-bulletin.com). It is also stated in that a herd dog and one of her puppies were

injured and another puppy could not be found. This is one incident that shows that wolves will
attack domestic animals; which means that they are approaching ranchers homes. There are
countless attacks on livestock in the area and ranchers need to be able to at least hunt the
predators.
It is often thought that wolves are wasteful
because they do not always eat everything
off their prey. The picture to the left is an
example of how wolves often leave prey.
This was from another attack that was
confirmed by fish and wild life in eastern
Oregon in 2012 ("When Wolves Run Wild).
A reason why wolves may not eat every last bit of their prey could be because they were scared
off or planned to come back later to finish the meal. It is true that by wolves leaving some of
their prey they help other animals to be fed but imagine finding a young cow like this?
Predators such as wolves will sometimes kill more than what they need to in the moment
to survive, this is called surplus killing. Predators do this to help teach the young how to hunt
and to make sure there is enough for them to eat. The problem is that because livestock are
usually caged in some way this makes it easier for the wolf to prey on them. The surplus of other
wild animals being killed could be less because the wolves have plenty of food to pick from
livestock. Younger wolves learn to hunt livestock at first because they are easy prey. After all an
easier prey is better than hunting for days with no success.
It is said that wolves do not kill for sport and this may be true but they are known as
vicious killers. The thing about a hungry wolf is that it will eat whatever it can whether that is

livestock or a domesticated animal. This link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUTepkgGPYk

shows a hungry wolf attacking a domesticated dog that was on a chain. This dog was defenseless
against the wolf and it ripped the dog off the chain and carried it off to eat it. I do not think this
video was filmed in the Eastern Oregon area but it shows how ruthless a wolf can be. The dog in
the video is about the size of a sheep maybe a little smaller and it would be easy for a pack of
wolves to kill many sheep in a short period of time. In the video it even seems as if the wolf is
playing with its prey before killing it decides to take the kill. Do all wolves need to die for their
ability to hunt and kill efficiently? No, but ranchers do need to be able to protect their livelihood.
Oregons ranches have a problem with the amount of wolf packs in the area. Last year
there was an estimation of about nine packsall of these packs except for one were able to
reproduce and keep the pups alive for a year. Six of these packs are in the Eastern Oregon area.
Since there are so many breeding packs and some have been breading pairs for three consecutive
years, Oregon has decided to move to Phase II. In the article Oregon Enters Next Phase of Wolf
Recovery explains a little bit about phase II, [n]on-lethal measures to prevent wolf-livestock
conflict are still emphasized in Phase 2 but livestock producers now have more flexibility to
protect their livestock. Specifically, producers in the easternmost portion of the state are allowed
to take (shoot) a wolf caught chasing livestock under certain circumstances. Since the wolf
populations are rising so fast certain measures have been taken to help ranchers protect their
livestock.
There is no definite solution to the issue between ranchers and wolfs but it could not hurt
to keep the wolf population under control. Only giving ranchers the choice of non-lethal methods
to keep wolves away does not help in lowering the attacks on their livestock as the wolf
population has grown at a fast rate. However driving the animal to extinction again will not solve

the problem. Wolves are fast, efficient and brutal hunters, a true savage. It seems that the state of
Oregon is working in the right direction with moving into Phase II and gives the ranchers a little
more run to kill a wolf if necessary.

Works Cited
By Warren Cornwall, for National Geographic PUBLISHED December 03, 2014. "Why Killing
Wolves Might Not Save Livestock." National Geographic. National Geographic Society,
n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"Eastern Oregon Moves into Phase II of Wolf Plan." - Blue Mountain Eagle. N.p., n.d. Web. 16
Mar. 2015.
"Facebook Logo." WeHunters. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"Fact vs. Fiction." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 11 June 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"International Wolf Center." International Wolf Center RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"Meet Oregon's Wolves: 77 Animals, 9 Packs, 26 New Pups." KVAL 13. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar.
2015.
"Oregon Enters next Phase of Wolf Recovery: Changes for Livestock Producers." Coos Bay
World. N.p., 05 Feb. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"Surplus Killing." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
Thomas, Heather S. "Wolves Economic Bite On Cattle Goes Way Beyond Predation."
Http://beefmagazine.com/. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"Updated: Wolf Attacks Kill Sheep, Dogs in Northeastern Oregon." Updated: Wolf Attacks Kill
Sheep, Dogs in Northeastern Oregon. N.p., 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"When Wolves Run Wild." Oregon Cattlemens Association RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"Wolf Attacks Eastern Oregon Rancher's Cow." Oregon Cattlemens Association RSS. N.p., n.d.
Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

"Wolf Biology and Behavior - Western Wildlife Outreach." Western Wildlife Outreach. N.p., n.d.
Web. 14 Mar. 2015.