How many times have you seen a carnivore on your farm, or its tracks, and then found a carcass of your livestock soon after? Your mind springs to what you believe is the obvious conclusion – that carnivore killed your livestock! Call the Sheriff! Call DWNP!
But it may surprise you that more often than not, the cause of livestock death can be attributed to things other than carnivores. Disease, illness, malnourishment, starvation, stillbirth, broken leg from falling in an aardvark hole, lightning strike, snakebite, and alien abduction are all possibilities (though that last one is rather unlikely). Knowing what killed your prized livestock is not only important for your peace of mind, but important for you to develop preventative strategies for reducing risk in the future and consequently, to help protect your bottom line. With the exception of a carcass that has been dragged by a leopard up a giant leadwood tree* – it is quite straightforward to find out what happened. We just need you to channel your inner Dr. Grissom and try your hat at crime scene investigation on the livestock carcass to find out who the culprit may be in this heinous crime. In the next series of articles, we will take you through the process of identifying evidence and signs on the carcass to help you identify the cause of death.
Was it really a carnivore?
Most farmers who spend a lot of time out in the field with their livestock will know how to accurately identify carnivore footprints (also known as spoor). However, the presence of leopard, jackal or wild dog spoor at a carcass is not cause for immediate conviction, as these species are known to scavenge on animals that lay dead in the veldt. It is possible that the livestock has died of natural causes and has subsequently been scavenged by carnivores. Therefore, it’s best to get all the facts first. The only reliable way to confirm that the livestock was attacked by a carnivore while still alive is to cut back the skin where the puncture wounds are found. If there is discolouration or bruising of the flesh around where the puncture wounds are, then you can confirm that the animal was alive when it was bitten. If there is no bruising around the bite marks under the skin, then the animal was likely already dead when bitten and therefore no blood was circulating to accumulate around the bite marks. Remember: if there’s no bruise where they got bit – you can’t convict!
Discovering what causes livestock death on your farm is important not only for farm management (especially regarding disease) but also for human-wildlife conflict. Researchers have discovered that a large portion of conflict is a result of perceived livestock loss that has not been confirmed with evidence. Many farmers are surprised to hear that carnivores are much less likely to prey on livestock than they expect. For example, research conducted by Cheetah Conservation Botswana found that less than 6% of the average cheetah’s diet is made up on livestock.
Furthermore, killing cheetahs and other carnivores on your farm when they have not been causing damage to your livestock, can invite more trouble, thanks to what is termed “the sinkhole effect” – also referred to in previous articles. The sinkhole effect occurs when a territorial animal is removed from a system, sucking transient animals from the nearby area to descend into the vacated territory, looking to claim it. These individuals can be less fit than those already holding territories, and research has shown these animals may be more likely to predate on livestock. This may sound counter-intuitive, but being 100% sure that carnivores have killed your livestock before employing lethal measures or translocation, will actually help reduce risk of increasing livestock attacks on your farm.
It is important to note that evidence will deteriorate over time, so the sooner you get to the carcass to investigate, the better. Being attentive to your herd, spending time in the veldt and regularly counting your stock will alert you to missing stock sooner. This may allow you to find injured, lost or trapped livestock before they have succumbed. By also keeping an eye out for vultures, you may increase the chances of finding your livestock soon enough after death to accurately determine the cause of death. If you need a second opinion or need to provide evidence to DWNP for compensation, putting the carcass in a tree will prevent scavengers from tampering with the evidence until they can arrive.
Stay tuned for our next articles, where we will go through how to interpret bite marks, claw marks and what has been eaten to determine what species may have been preying on your livestock.
For more information about carcass identification or to get your own copy of Cheetah Conservation Botswana’s carnivore identification sheet, visit www.cheetahconservationbotswana.org/resources
Let us know what you think of this or our other articles, or suggest a topic you would like us to cover by dropping us a line at jhorgan@cheetahconservationbotswana.org.
*NB: If a leopard has dragged a carcass up into a tree, persuade the most easily-influenced/high-on-bravado/bucking-for-a-raise staffer on your payroll to clamber up said tree and retrieve the carcass. Be sure to give that staffer a bonus, especially if the leopard is still in the vicinity
