Carcass Management
Historically in many cases when an animal dies, the carcass is left where it is. Some ranchers would move carcasses to a bone yard - a specific area on the property where all dead animals were brought. A wide range of wildlife would be attracted to these carcasses, from scavengers like vultures to predators such as wolves and grizzly bears.
Photo by Louise Johns
In 2014, we began managing carcasses and carcass areas when animals died in close proximity to our livestock. In some cases we removed carcasses from our livestock pastures to keep from luring predators into the area. However sometimes the terrain has been too rugged to move a carcass very far in which case we either move the carcass to a cattle-free area of the Basin, move cattle out of areas where carcasses are present and/or closely monitor herds of cattle near carcass sites.
In addition, we experimented with eliminating carcasses from the Basin as well as composting (burying) carcasses in hopes of decreasing chances of predators continually making connections between dead animals (food) and live animals.
Through these efforts we have the potential to minimize our influence on how predators behave and move across the landscape in regards to our livestock locations. Ideally, this practice will encourage bears and wolves to seek out wild prey and food sources instead of relying on areas used by livestock.