"You need to have some sort of proof of that loss whether it's a carcass of that livestock species or some photos or anything of that nature." "There is a burden of proof associated with it," Callum said. He said it's a constant challenge and getting compensation can be problematic for ranchers if they don't have evidence their animal was killed by a predator. "Unfortunately, it leads to those livestock, wildlife or predator interactions that we see result in livestock losses," Callum said, adding it's been a long-standing issue which seems to be cyclical. "Even in the absence of photos or video, typically wolves will leave signs that they were there and they did kill … even though you don't find the whole carcass."Ĭarson Callum, general manager of Manitoba Beef Producers, said because animals are raised on the natural landscape ranchers often run into predation challenges.
"If they have a prey in an area that they consider to be risky, they could drag that prey somewhere where they feel it is less risky for them to consume," Dupont said. He said it wouldn't be unusual behaviour for wolves to drag prey away. "If moose, elk, deer or even beaver populations are depressed then they could be looking for a way to sustain their family and that could lead them to looking elsewhere, such as cattle," Dupont said.
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He said wolves usually try to avoid any conflict with humans and anything related to humans such as cattle, but they can learn to how to feed on cows. He's spent time studying how wolves interact with prey. The Radfords said since May 10, 17 of their calves have been killed but they were only compensated for two because they weren't able to find the carcasses of the others.ĭaniel Dupont is a PhD student in wildlife biology and instructor in biology at St. "Producers who suspect they have lost livestock to wildlife predation, but are unable to provide evidence that allows them to access funding under the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program, are encouraged to report their situation to a conservation officer in the local district office," the province says on its website. According to its website, the program gets around 1,900 claims annually for all predator attacks, with wolves making up around 20 per cent of claims. Ranchers can get compensation for livestock injured or killed by wolves as well as bears, coyotes and foxes through the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation, under the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program. "They're so smart that they just figure out how to get around all this stuff," Randy said. Randy has a photo captured on a trail camera of three wolves surrounding a downed bull on their farm this past March. The ranchers said they've tried guard dogs, installing electric fences and even hired someone to sit in their field at night with a rifle and a flashlight but the wolves keep coming back. "We're at very high prices in the cattle cycle so every calf we're losing right now is about $2,000," Carla said.
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