Due to the successful efforts to protect and protect habitats, the bears are flourishing in Montana, but farmers are not necessarily excited by the news.
Animals have begun to wander their properties, steal food and threaten their young children. But the dogs of the animal guardian make the farm’s life much more favored for both bears and humans.
As the New York Times reported, Grizzlies have been protected under the Created species Act, which has allowed their populations to increase dramatically over the last 50 years. As a result, bears have expanded their territory in new areas, including those close to human development.
Convenient for bears, settlements have more food availability and as bears are cleaned for cereals and other farm foods, this increases the risk of human and rail conflict.
That is why Montana farmers have started hiring bears dogs to protect their families and food supplies and so far seems to be working quite well.
Steve and Julie Arenors, who have been involved in wheat, barley and chickpeas in North Montana for nearly half a century, were impatient for a decision after four grizzly appeared on their ground in 2020, when the bears found out how much food kept in the cereals in the property, their visits were much more.
The couple decided to call Wesley Sarmento, a former bear manager at the Montana Wildlife Agency, for help, but unfortunately, trying to keep grizzly far, using electric fences, traps and alarms were unsuccessful. And after hearing that a bear had killed dozens of chickens on a nearby farm, he knew that a longer-term solution was needed quickly.
Later in 2020, another farmer told him that after his son had brought a cattle guard home, their problems with bears disappeared. Big dogs like shepherds have been used for centuries to keep carnivorous animals away from livestock and humans, and now that bears are back, these gentle giants are again urged to do what they do best: protection.
Sarmento has partnered with Julie Young, a professor of ecology at Utah State University to explore how well three Turkish breeds – Kangal, The Boz and Anatolian – can keep bears from infiltrating farms and have asked for several local farmers, including Ahrenses, if participated.
When Billy, Kangal, for the first time arrived on his farm, they admit that they were a little worried about how he would contact family and other animals. But after a few weeks, he fits in exactly and has been scaring bears away from their property for years.
In fact, Ahrenses reported zero bears until earlier this spring when the mother and her cubes wandered in their yard. In general, however, Billy had an impressive attempt to keep the family and other farmers also noticed the benefits of having security dogs around.
The study, published in biological conservation, found a 90% reduction in bears within 1000 feet of the four farms that received dog bears. In addition, there were 58 times fewer discoveries of bear cameras visiting farms with guardian dogs compared to farms that had no dogs.
While further research is needed, the results are promising and show that bears and people can coexist with the help of a person’s best friend.
At the Ranch Leg Leg, where the bear killed the farm owner Seth and Jenny Becker’s chickens, the new family pets – two Anatolian Shepherds, Zia and Astra – finally allowed life to return to normal on the farm.
“We love bears, but we also love that we are now more secure and that we are not constantly worried,” Jenny Becker told The Times.
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