Beyond 2000 Symposium

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Beyond 2000:
Realities of Global Wolf Restoration

23-26 February 2000
Duluth, Minnesota USA

 
Wolf-livestock interactions

J. Henry Fair

Mike Phillips (left), Turner Endangered Species Fund, USA, with Bob Ferris, Defenders of Wildlife, USA.

Mike Phillips, Turner Endangered Species Fund, PO Box 191, Gallatin Gateway, MT 59730, USA; Peter Jenkins, Biopolicy Consulting, PO Box 772, Placitas, NM 87043, USA

The gray wolf (Canis lupus) once was one of the most widely distributed large mammals in North America. The species occurred from coast to coast, east to west and north to south. Individuals occupied virtually every habitat on the continent. Undoubtedly the North American wolf population included tens of thousands of animals through the end of the 20th century. From the late 1800s through the mid 1900s wolves in the United States were ruthlessly pursued with firearms, poisons, and traps with devastating effectiveness. By the mid-1950s wolf populations in the contiguous states persisted only in the wilderness of northern Minnesota and on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. The "wolf war" was fueled in large part because of real and perceived threats that wolves presented to livestock. This presentation summarizes the historical and contemporary relationship between wolves and livestock, and considers management actions to this most vexing and persistent issue.