With hundreds of Manitoba livestock producers incensed over the number of wolf and coyote attacks to their animals each year, defending the province’s predation policies isn’t the easiest job on the planet.
But Cam Meuckon, Manitoba’s problem wildlife biologist, managed to mollify most of the frustrated producers who stopped by a Manitoba Conservation information booth at Ag Days, which was held Jan. 18-20 in Brandon.
Meuckon was able to soothe the crowd, partly because he has empathy for producers who lose sheep, calves and other livestock to predators.
“There’s no question if I was a businessman and essentially being robbed every day, I’d be frustrated too,” said Meuckon, the government’s only problem wildlife biologist.
Meuckon said the number of complaints regarding wolves and coyotes has increased in Manitoba recently.
In response to concerns, the province announced last year that it would increase compensation for livestock losses due to predation.
In 2011, producers will receive 90 percent of the value of livestock killed by predators, up from 80 percent in previous years. In 2012, the compensation will jump to 100 percent of market value.
“It’s devastating to put the kind of expense into an animal, have some hope that animal is going to bring you some kind of revenue, then find it all chewed up out on the pasture,” said agriculture minister Stan Struthers, following his annual state of agriculture speech at Ag Days.
Last year, Saskatchewan took a more aggressive approach to livestock predation and instituted a bounty on coyotes.
But a bounty isn’t effective, Meuckon said, because they can rapidly reproduce.
“I’ve read some studies that you would have to kill 60 to 70 percent of the coyote population and maintain it at that level for a long period of time, for that population not to recover to where it was.”
While complaints about predators are rising, it’s difficult to know if predator populations are increasing because the province doesn’t count the number of wolves and coyotes in Manitoba, Meuckon said.
Counting wolves, for instance, would be difficult because they lead a secretive existence. One cattle producer who has lived for decades in Manitoba’s northern Interlake, an area with a substantial wolf population, told The Western Producer that he’s never seen a wolf, even though he has lost dozens of calves to predation.
As well, a count is difficult because people can confuse the two species, even though wolves are much bigger. Coyotes rarely exceed 20 kilograms, Meuckon said, but a large wolf could be 50-55 kg.
During his time at Ag Days, Meuckon heard from many producers who believe that all coyotes and wolves attack livestock. But that perception is false, he said.
“That simply isn’t the case because not all producers who have coyotes and wolves on their land are experiencing problems,” said Meuckon, who had a small collection of coyote, wolf and beaver pelts at his booth in Brandon.
Only certain coyotes and wolves attack livestock, he said, which means deterring the specific problem animals is a better approach than a species-wide bounty.
More producers should use guard dogs and donkeys to prevent attacks, he said.
“I think it’s a significant investment for a lot of producers, both time and money. But some guys have reported that predation just grinds to a halt, as soon they get these dogs,” he said. “I’d like to see more producers experiment with some of these things, rather than dismiss them as not being effective.”
The province, Meuckon added, is considering financial aid and education for producers who try guard animals. But those programs remain in the discussion stage.
