scooter
04-28-2008, 01:27 PM
PUBLICATION: Belleville Intelligencer (ON)
DATE: 2008.03.19
SECTION: Front
PAGE: 1
BYLINE: Stephen Petrick
WORD COUNT: 705
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New predator hunting livestock
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Farmers take note, there could be a new predator hunting livestock in Quinte.
Ministry of Natural Resource experts believe it's part coyote, part wolf and larger than sheep-killing coyotes common to the region.
"We're looking into this still," said Brent Patterson, a MNR research scientist based at Trent University in Peterborough, "but it appears possible that there's extensive hybridization in the province between the eastern wolves and eastern coyotes. It's certainly possible that more wolf DNA is making its way into a coyote population."
The theory is based on a number of factors, such as increasing reports of livestock destruction across the province and bigger coyotes being reported. And it's bad news for farmers who should now take more steps to ensure their animals are protected, Patterson said.
The theory stems from the prevalence of the eastern wolf, a species that can breed with both a coyote or a grey wolf. That makes tracking the species in Ontario much more difficult than in western provinces and states where grey wolves and coyotes are two distinct species, Patterson said.
The eastern wolf has caused what he calls a "genetic continuum"that's spreading across the province.
"Animals that are mostly coyote-like are south and animals that are mostly wolf like are in Northern Ontario. Everything in between is in the middle."
This formula is especially troubling for Prince Edward County farmers, whose livestock is being destroyed at an increasing rate, reportedly by larger animals.
According to the Prince Edward Stewardship Council, 420 predator reports were filed to the Ministry of Agriculture from county farmers in 2006-07.
The value of the claims totalled $58,000.
Those numbers are up from 2002-03, when 235 reports were filed, for a total value of $38,000.
Based on the genetic continuum, it seems Quinte-area farmers are dealing with animals with the sharp hunting skills of a western coyote, but added size from wolf DNA, Patterson said.
"Out west, where there's no mixing, a big, male coyote may be 30 to 35 pounds. But in Prince Edward County where hybridization is going on, it wouldn't be rare to find a 50- to 55-pound male."
However, he added, the problem isn't isolated to this region, as the hybrid coyote seems to span an entire range, south of the Canadian Shield.
Evidence of its existence became more solid last year when the ministry's livestock compensation program received more than $1 million in claims from across the province for the first time.
And now that researchers are confident the breed exists, they're trying to teach farmers how to fend them off.
Patterson attended an information session in Picton earlier this month to warn farmers there's no single way to eliminate the threat of a large predator.
He said buying larger fences or electric fences and owning guard animals, such as dogs, llamas or even donkeys can be a short-term solution.
But none of these are likely to solve a problem forever. If, say, a tree falls on your new fence and creates an opening, a hungry hybrid coyote will likely find its way in.
"If you have a enough animals and you live in coyote country, it's likely you will lose some of your livestock," Patterson said.
That's something Jim Moore, a Prince Edward County sheep farmer, knows first-hand.
He said he has been losing sheep every year for the past 30 and the coyotes he spots now seem to be bigger than in years past.
Last year he said he lost 22 sheep, but in only four cases a carcass remained for him to file a compensation claim on.
"In the summer it's constant," he said. "In the winter months (the sheep) are in a building most of the time. But as soon as you turn them out, they're gone."
As a retired MNR conservation officer, he knows hunting coyotes - however effective - is not a politically correct method to address the problem.
Instead, Moore said he hopes governments will make more changes to compensation programs, to help farmers whose profit margins are already thin.
He said Prince Edward County is one of few Ontario municipalities that charge farmers a $50 administration fee to have a livestock evaluator inspect for damages caused by predators before filing a claim to the Ministry of Agriculture. He would like to see it waived.
Other than that, "I don't know what the government can do," he said. Patterson said solving the problem is complex and hunting coyotes isn't necessarily the solution, since only a small percentage of them - likely only breeding males - are causing livestock damage.
"Just going out and hunting every coyote you see is very ineffective and perhaps not socially responsible," he said. "But if you're having losses on a particular farm and you can find a good trapper or hunter to target the specific animal taking those animals, then that's a surgical approach," he said.
"If you were to remove a breeding male at the start of the lambing season, it's likely you'll see a couple months of relief before you have trouble again."
DATE: 2008.03.19
SECTION: Front
PAGE: 1
BYLINE: Stephen Petrick
WORD COUNT: 705
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New predator hunting livestock
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farmers take note, there could be a new predator hunting livestock in Quinte.
Ministry of Natural Resource experts believe it's part coyote, part wolf and larger than sheep-killing coyotes common to the region.
"We're looking into this still," said Brent Patterson, a MNR research scientist based at Trent University in Peterborough, "but it appears possible that there's extensive hybridization in the province between the eastern wolves and eastern coyotes. It's certainly possible that more wolf DNA is making its way into a coyote population."
The theory is based on a number of factors, such as increasing reports of livestock destruction across the province and bigger coyotes being reported. And it's bad news for farmers who should now take more steps to ensure their animals are protected, Patterson said.
The theory stems from the prevalence of the eastern wolf, a species that can breed with both a coyote or a grey wolf. That makes tracking the species in Ontario much more difficult than in western provinces and states where grey wolves and coyotes are two distinct species, Patterson said.
The eastern wolf has caused what he calls a "genetic continuum"that's spreading across the province.
"Animals that are mostly coyote-like are south and animals that are mostly wolf like are in Northern Ontario. Everything in between is in the middle."
This formula is especially troubling for Prince Edward County farmers, whose livestock is being destroyed at an increasing rate, reportedly by larger animals.
According to the Prince Edward Stewardship Council, 420 predator reports were filed to the Ministry of Agriculture from county farmers in 2006-07.
The value of the claims totalled $58,000.
Those numbers are up from 2002-03, when 235 reports were filed, for a total value of $38,000.
Based on the genetic continuum, it seems Quinte-area farmers are dealing with animals with the sharp hunting skills of a western coyote, but added size from wolf DNA, Patterson said.
"Out west, where there's no mixing, a big, male coyote may be 30 to 35 pounds. But in Prince Edward County where hybridization is going on, it wouldn't be rare to find a 50- to 55-pound male."
However, he added, the problem isn't isolated to this region, as the hybrid coyote seems to span an entire range, south of the Canadian Shield.
Evidence of its existence became more solid last year when the ministry's livestock compensation program received more than $1 million in claims from across the province for the first time.
And now that researchers are confident the breed exists, they're trying to teach farmers how to fend them off.
Patterson attended an information session in Picton earlier this month to warn farmers there's no single way to eliminate the threat of a large predator.
He said buying larger fences or electric fences and owning guard animals, such as dogs, llamas or even donkeys can be a short-term solution.
But none of these are likely to solve a problem forever. If, say, a tree falls on your new fence and creates an opening, a hungry hybrid coyote will likely find its way in.
"If you have a enough animals and you live in coyote country, it's likely you will lose some of your livestock," Patterson said.
That's something Jim Moore, a Prince Edward County sheep farmer, knows first-hand.
He said he has been losing sheep every year for the past 30 and the coyotes he spots now seem to be bigger than in years past.
Last year he said he lost 22 sheep, but in only four cases a carcass remained for him to file a compensation claim on.
"In the summer it's constant," he said. "In the winter months (the sheep) are in a building most of the time. But as soon as you turn them out, they're gone."
As a retired MNR conservation officer, he knows hunting coyotes - however effective - is not a politically correct method to address the problem.
Instead, Moore said he hopes governments will make more changes to compensation programs, to help farmers whose profit margins are already thin.
He said Prince Edward County is one of few Ontario municipalities that charge farmers a $50 administration fee to have a livestock evaluator inspect for damages caused by predators before filing a claim to the Ministry of Agriculture. He would like to see it waived.
Other than that, "I don't know what the government can do," he said. Patterson said solving the problem is complex and hunting coyotes isn't necessarily the solution, since only a small percentage of them - likely only breeding males - are causing livestock damage.
"Just going out and hunting every coyote you see is very ineffective and perhaps not socially responsible," he said. "But if you're having losses on a particular farm and you can find a good trapper or hunter to target the specific animal taking those animals, then that's a surgical approach," he said.
"If you were to remove a breeding male at the start of the lambing season, it's likely you'll see a couple months of relief before you have trouble again."