“Frank Robbins runs about 3,000 head of Angus cattle. He said 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
Defenders used to require proof the dead animal was a wolf kill [not some other cause] before they would pay the claim. I don’t see that as unreasonable. Another issue fre: Mr Robbins is whether the cattle were killed on his land, or on land leased to him by the Federal government. In the latter case, I believe the wolves take precedence.