To prevent the wolves from devouring his cows, Don Gittleson has enlisted a pack of “guard” donkeys: faced with the return of the wolf to Colorado, the breeder looks gray and is ready to try anything to protect his cattle.
Coming from Nevada, the donkeys keep to themselves and don’t seem to want to make buddy-buddy with their new cattle neighbors on his snowy ranch near Walden, upstate.
But “they can defend themselves”, testifies the peasant. “They kick, hit and bite.”
A threat enough to deter the wolves, he hopes. Predators are generally on the lookout for easy prey and are “smart enough to know when they are in danger of being harmed.”
Since the reappearance of the wolf in Colorado, breeders in this western American state have been on their toes.
A pair of predators migrated from neighboring Wyoming three years ago, and sired a litter in 2021, a first since the 1940s.
Mr. Gittleson says he lost eight cows to the fangs of the new arrivals.
So he knows a thing or two about non-lethal ways to block wolves.
Barriers with red flags, which the animal hesitates to cross, flashing lights or stun grenades to frighten them: in Colorado, breeders use all sorts of devices.
Because here, the wolf is strictly protected. Unlike Wyoming, it cannot be shot except in self-defense.
The peasants are all the more worried that the animal must be officially reintroduced in Colorado at the end of the year. In 2020, a referendum on the issue was narrowly approved.
Something to annoy local breeders, who believe they are paying for the fantasies of disconnected urban voters.
“The vote was won by people who really have no idea what we are up against here”, plagues Greg Sykes.
“They don’t care what we have to put up with,” adds this breeder. For him, losing animals, “is an additional expense that we cannot afford.”
But for many of his fellow citizens, the wolf embodies the wide open spaces and wilderness characteristic of American heritage.
European settlers arriving in the 17th century brought with them the trappings and widespread hunting of the animal. So much so that there were less than a thousand gray wolves left in all of the United States by the middle of the 20th century.
The predator was narrowly saved from extinction. First, by the adoption of an endangered species law in the 1970s, then by the reintroduction in the 1990s of wolves from Canada into the huge Yellowstone Park. A protected area that spans Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
For conservationists like Darlene Kobobel, it’s time to officially expand the animal’s territory in Colorado.
“Wolves have their place. They were there long before us,” said the founder of the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center, a park designed as a sanctuary for the beast.
“They’re no worse than other predators,” she insists, pointing out that they “maintain balance” and “have been missing from our ecosystem for almost 80 years.”
Without them, deer and elk populations have exploded. The plains of Colorado suffer from overgrazing and authorities are concerned about chronic wasting disease (CWD), or “zombie deer” disease, a condition similar to “mad cow disease” affecting deer.
Wolves could help curb the phenomenon by eliminating infected animals, according to Ms. Kobobel.
Farmers just need to learn how to protect their cows and sheep, which are the real “invasive species”, she believes.
A hard message for ranchers like Mr Sykes to swallow: His beloved Cisco sheepdog was killed by wolves outside his farm last month.
The peasant admits having thought of using his rifle. It was his wife who dissuaded him from committing the irreparable and risking prison.
Two days later, he also found a calf torn apart by predators. A loss often difficult to compensate for a breeder: bureaucratic, the procedure drags on and no compensation is advanced as long as the responsibility of the wolf has not been confirmed.
On the roads of the region, the resentment is palpable. Several signs warn supporters of a reintroduction that they are not welcome.
“I don’t quite see why wolves should be reintroduced when they are already coming back,” grumbles Mr Sykes, wishing breeders would be allowed to kill the animal to “protect themselves”.
An opinion shared by his colleague, Mr. Gittleson. For him, “those wolves should have been put down a long time ago.”
10/04/2023 08:42:16 – Walden (United States) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
