Wolves not entirely to blame for farm losses
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Paris – Wolves, lions, cheetahs and other predators inflict relatively few losses on livestock and farmers gain only a temporary boost if these marauders are culled, New Scientist says.
Few serious studies have been conducted into exactly how many sheep or cows are killed by big predators, and those studies whose data are trustworthy – rather than based on hearsay – suggest the number is usually no more than three percent of all livestock losses, it says.
Disease and attacks by smaller predators account for a far higher loss rate.
A study in Zimbabwe found that attacks by big cats amounted to only two percent of all cattle losses, whereas disease accounted for 23 percent, the British weekly says in next Saturday’s issue.
“There’s this cultural hangover that says predators are bad and killing them is the only way to deal with the problem,” researcher Kate Graham of the University of Stirling, Scotland, told New Scientist.
“We haven’t gathered the evidence to say that there is a problem.”
According to American wildlife conservationist Adrian Treves, a review of US studies in which predators such as wolves, cougars and bears had been culled found only a brief and negligible improvement for farmers.
Livestock losses were cut on only one-third of ranches and farms, and any benefit generally lasted no more than a year.
France and Norway are in the grip of a debate about whether to carry out a cull of wolves to appease sheep farmers who say they have suffered heavy losses from these predators. – Sapa-AFP