Removing wolves did not reliably prevent domestic animal losses

Abstract

Abstract Humans usually try to kill wild animals that they perceive as threats. However, many scientific findings have raised doubts that killing solves wildlife damage to property. With scant, low‐quality data, uncertainty persists. We reviewed recent studies of killing gray wolves to protect domestic animals. Our inclusion criteria set a minimum threshold for robust study design and transparent data sharing. In five studies in five countries, killing wolves typically had no effect, may have had the desired effect, but more often killing wolves had the counter‐productive undesirable effect of elevating domestic animal losses. We quantified the relative rates of the three outcomes and find the balance in favor of no effect to undesirable effects. We discuss potentially confounding variables and the need for an unbiased, reproducible, transparent, randomized, and controlled trial of predator removal. We find and summarize similarities to other situations from disease transmission to crop damage.