Can Idaho wolves shed their 'big bad' reputation?

Today, all is calm in Víctor Alberto Rupay Dorregaray’s flock. From his camp, the sheep are barely discernible dots among the sage grass as they munch their way across a nearby hillside. A large guard dog meanders through the band of sheep, with his white, fluffy coat making him blend in among his charges. But just a week earlier, things weren’t so quiet. The first sign of trouble came as a yelp from one of the band’s three guard dogs. It sounded like a wolf’s jaws were wrapped around the dog’s throat as it struggled to sound the alarm, Mr. Dorregaray says. The herder leaped into action, grabbing a noisemaker and running toward the sound. The blare of an air horn filled the air, and the startled wolf took off. The dog was fatally injured, but the sheep survived to see another day. And so did the wolf. The image of wolves as a “big bad” has been seared into our collective consciousness, forever branded by nursery rhymes and cartoon tales. And for ranchers in the American West, the predators are a very real threat looming over their livelihoods – one that they’d rather not face. But their relationship with wolves has had to change in recent years, as ranchers’ focus shifts from eradication to coexistence. Conflicts between wildlife and their human neighbors have taken center stage in national debates in recent months...But in Idaho, where grey wolf populations have rebounded to numbers not seen in decades, perhaps even a century, ranchers are settling into their new normal, accepting that they must now find a way to share the landscape with wolves. And for some, that means exploring ways to protect both livestock and wolves from a premature death...But as the species rebounded, ranchers’ concerns about the impact of the “big bad” on their livestock returned, too. And these worries were not unfounded. Over 550 sheep have been reported killed by wolves since 2009. “[Ranchers] just want to be able to protect their sheep,” says Brandy Kay, executive director for the Idaho Wool Growers Association. The way ranchers speak about their sheep, she says, you’d think they were speaking about family members. And when a wolf kills one, she says, they want to do whatever it takes to protect the others. “It’s really changed ranching,” says John Peavey, co-owner of Flat Top Ranch in Carey, Idaho, and a former Democratic state senator, “They’re here, and they’re going to stay. It’s whether ranching can survive or not.”