Domestic Sheep Predation - Prevention

Prevention

Sheep producers have used a wide variety of measures to try to combat predation throughout history. Pre-modern shepherds had only the most basic of tools: their own presence, livestock guardian dogs, and protective structures such as barns and fencing. Fencing (both regular and electric), penning sheep at night and lambing indoors all continue to be widely–used methods of protection today. Whereas sheepdogs herd sheep, guardian dogs are trained to integrate in to flocks and protect them from predators. The ability of these dogs to do so is a transference of the canine pack social structure on to a flock. Following their invention, the focus in dealing with predators shifted to the nearly exclusive use of guns, traps, and poisons to kill predators both defensively and preemptively. The population of predator species plummeted worldwide, pushing some to extinction(such as the Thylacine ) or significantly reducing their original ranges. With the appearance of the environmental and conservation movements, and subsequent state, provincial, national and international legislation, simply exterminating predator species failed to be a legally viable option for protecting flocks. However, many countries maintain government agencies—such as the Wildlife Services program, a wing of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service —to shoot, poison and trap predators that threaten sheep. Wildlife conservation organizations charge that this killing is both indiscriminate and ineffective at protecting sheep.

The 1970s saw an ensuing resurgence in the use of livestock guardian dogs and the development of new methods of predator control, many of them non–lethal. Donkeys and guard llamas have been used since the 1980s in sheep operations, using the same basic principle as livestock guardian dogs. Interspecific pasturing, usually with larger livestock such as cattle or horses, make also help to deter predators, even if such species do not actively guard sheep. In addition to animal guardians, contemporary sheep operations may use non–lethal predator deterrents such as motion–activated lights and noisy alarms. While these devices have been shown to be successful, predators can become habituated to them.