Nice to know that the whackos have at least relented to the ranchers. If people or dogs get killed, that is just plain tough.
Sounds good, but that is not the way it has worked out. In areas where wolves have been reintroduced ranchers were assured they would be paid for wolf kills. The reality is the rancher has to have absolute proof that the livestock was killed by a wolf. Photos of wolves eating the killed livestock are not even enough proof usually. In order to get paid the rancher pretty much has to have photos or video of wolves killing the stock- which of course is nearly impossible to get. Ranchers in wolf areas have lost many calves, and there is usually no evidence of what happened to them- the rancher knows he had a bigger calf crop before the wolves were released, but no proof that wolves are the cause of lower calf crops now.
In reality the ranchers are suffering from wolf reintroduction and are seldom paid for kills.
"Frank Robbins runs about 3,000 head of Angus cattle... one 3-5 year old cow weighing 1,200 pounds is valued at about $1,000. "
"We're missing 10-15 head," Robbins said. His neighbor, who runs 300 head, is missing five.
He says the federal government "turned my ranch into a recovery zone for the wolf," adding they "are willing to sacrifice us to get (wolves) delisted."
In 10 years Robbins says he has never received any payment for loss of cattle to predators.
In one case he said a predator control officer observed a wolf eating a dead cow, but the officer could not say what killed it.
http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2004/03/08/news/news2.txt