Exploring Costs and Impacts of Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) on Livestock Producers in the United States

ABSTRACT The recovery of gray wolves ( Canis lupus ) in the United States (US) constitutes a significant conservation success, yet it has also generated challenges, especially human-wildlife conflicts in areas utilized for livestock production. This study examines the effects of gray wolves on livestock producers in the US with the aim of identifying and describing categories of impacts and economic costs associated with the species. Based on semistructured qualitative interviews with 42 livestock producers across 11 states, we identified 14 categories of costs and negative impacts associated with wolves, including property and agricultural damage, depredations, unprovable losses, risk to rare livestock breeds, livestock injury, indirect effects on livestock, challenges related to livestock protection methods, labor and operational difficulties, impacts on psychological well-being, loss of property use, social conflict, human safety concerns, constraints on interviewees’ personal time, and perceived ecosystem-level effects. These findings provide a broad assessment of the impacts of wolves on livestock producers and offer insights that may inform future investigations of wolf-related costs, guide the development of effective and socially acceptable interventions to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts involving the species, and enhance understanding of livestock producers’ experiences with wolves.