Final Report for Using a Biofence to Manipulate Wolf Movements in Central Idaho, 2010-2011
Ausband D and Bassing S. 2011. Final Report for Using a Biofence to Manipulate Wolf Movements in Central Idaho, 2010-2011. Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit Wolf Project. Missoula, MT
Gray wolves (Canis lupus) can conflict with livestock production throughout their range. Generally, in the Rocky Mountains, wolves that prey on domestic livestock are killed by management agencies or private landowners. These actions typically stop depredations for producers in the short-term but are not a lasting solution because wolf packs generally reestablish within 1 year and livestock predation often continues. Most tools currently available for nonlethal control of wolves are short-lived in their effectiveness or require constant human presence. Wolves, like most canids worldwide, use scent-marking (deposits of urine, scat, and scratches at conspicuous locations) to establish territories on the landscape and avoid intraspecific conflict. We hypothesized that human-deployed scent-marks consisting of scat and urine (i.e., "biofence") could be used to manipulate wolf pack movements in Idaho. We deployed 64.7 km of biofence in 2010 and 64.8 km of biofence in 2011 within 3 wolf pack territories in central Idaho during summer. Location data provided by satellite collared wolves in 2010 showed little to no trespass of the biofence, even though the excluded areas were used by the packs (> 75% kernel level) in previous summers. Sign surveys at predicted rendezvous sites in areas excluded by our biofence yielded little to no recent wolf use of those areas. In addition, we opportunistically deployed a biofence in between a resident wolf pack’s rendezvous site and a nearby (< 1.6 km) active sheep grazing allotment totaling 2,400 animals. This pack killed sheep every year since 2006 and 1 guard dog in 2006, but were not implicated in any depredations in summer 2010 even though their rendezvous site was in close proximity to sheep. In 2011, wolves in 2 packs demonstrated little to no trespass of the biofence while wolves in the third pack exhibited notable trespass. We conclude that biofencing can be used to manipulate movements of wolves, but not all wolves all the time. Where total exclusion is the goal more frequent refreshing, an adequate buffer distance from the area to be excluded, and the use of automated howling devices may fortify biofencing and increase its effectiveness.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Ausband, David; Bassing, Sarah
- Date of Issue
- 2011-11
- Publisher
- Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit Wolf Project
- Units
- GLAC
- Keywords
- Biofence, Canis lupus, livestock predation, Nonlethal control, Predator Control, scent-marking, Territory, Wildlife Management, Wolf, wolf control, wolf movement, Wolves