“You may take out the wolf that is leaving the cattle alone,” Grandin said.
“The sensible thing to do is probably in between the rancher who says get rid of all the wolves and the environmentalist who says never take any wolves out,” Grandin said. “You want to take out the animal that’s developed a taste for lamb or beef.”
Grandin, whose insights on animal behavior caused livestock slaughterhouses to adopt calmer and more humane handling methods, expanded on points she made in a February article for Beef Magazine,
Among other things, Grandin believes ranchers can help cattle re-learn predator defense instincts such as bunching up instead of running.
The technique worked for the great bison herds that once roamed the plains, Grandin said. She credited the idea to two presenters at the Society for Range Management’s annual meeting in Sacramento this winter.
“Rekindling the natural herding instinct is not forcing the cattle together,” Grandin wrote in the magazine article. “The principle is to move back and forth in a straight line on the edge of the collective pressure zone” while not entering the herd’s “flight zone.”
Dealing with predators calls for a site-specific approach, Grandin said. “Something that works in one part of the country won’t work somewhere else.”
Grandin said wolves and coyotes usually avoid areas where people are present, and that employing range riders — as many Northeastern Oregon cattle ranchers do — is an effective deterrent. Removing livestock carcasses from grazing areas, a practice called for in Oregon’s wolf management plan, is critical to avoid attracting predators and giving them a taste for livestock, she said.
Individual packs favor specific prey, and “momma wolves” pass that on to their pups, she said.
A wolf pack that eats elk and leaves cattle alone should be tolerated, because it will protect its territory from packs that have other tastes, Grandin said.
“With coyotes, the one eating ground squirrels, you can shoot him – but he’s not the one bothering your livestock,” she said.
A better approach is to remove individual problem animals or a male and female pair that are caught in the act, she said.
“In managing these things, you have to look at the whole system,” Grandin said. “I do go on the premise that cattle are part of the system.”
People have impacted and managed rangeland for eons, dating back to when Native Americans burned grasslands, Grandin said. Critics of grazing don’t understand how human use of the range can be beneficial, she said.
“Responsible family ranchers are part of that system,” she said.
Grandin, who is autistic and has become an activist on that issue in addition to livestock management practices, is one of the few experts cited by both producers and conservation groups.
Her summary of the range management meeting was carried on the Defenders of Wildlife website. The American Farm Bureau Federation presented her the bureau’s Distinguished Service Award at its national convention in January.”
The Wolf Preservation Blog 
Good idea if the ranchers will listen.
Regards Oliver Craig.
Yes Oliver, convincing stubborn ranchers of this is another challenge. The upside is continuing to provide wolf facts, how to reduce negative livestock interactions, and using social media to further the cause.
Please help the poor wolves Haida Gwaii has been destroyed by deer but I definitely don’t want so much of our US country ruined that it starts to look weak and ugly soon, not one bit, let the wolves live please.
they’re an animal that I quickly get heartbroken about when I hear or read this rude slaughter news. The wolves aren’t bad, no!! It’s old mean misunderstood complaint phrases that have spread too far. The wolves themselves are wise.
Fascination and security are what the wolves help my 25 year old granddaughter feel personally she likes them so much she has trouble not visualizing them, she suddenly gets dreamy about them. I’m a UT friend of theirs. Western people absolutely need to quit this cruelty grazers need to stay balanced just as much as bugs. Wolves know what they’re doing, they even helped Ice Age people years ago.
COYWOLVES we’re made because of the harm farmers and hunters have done to wolf packs, to keep the planet healthy wolves are a big necessity!! They help ravens, eagles, and other birds we need too. I have firm compassion.
I even want at least a few wolves in UT and I want Idaho’s wolves helped for sure, I hate what Idaho’s state governor thinks of them. I myself wish I could rescue them. we don’t want the west weakened like the north already is.
DOG WOLF WOLFDOG LEARN TO HANDLE IT CONCENTRATE, WE NEED HARMONY,AND IN FAMILY STUFF WE’RE SIMILAR TO WOLVES. OUR COMMUNICATION IS THE DIFFERENCE!!
LONG LIVE THE WOLVES, I YEARN FOR PEACE AND IN ARGUMENTS OF PROTECTION IN THIS CASE I’M WITH THE WOLVES, IT’S GENTLENESS AND EFFICIENCY THAT THEY SHOW IN THEIR REAL ATTITUDES, IF YOU WATCH THEM ENOUGH TO LEARN FROM THEM OR READ THEIR NEWER FICTION STORIES.
PLEASE HUMANE SOCIETY AND RUNS WITH WOLVES SANCTUARY AND YELLOWSTONE TOO, DON’T LOSE COURAGE YOU’RE 3 OF THE PLACES I HAVE HOPE FOR.