Costliest Year For Montana Livestock Depredation

Whether it was wolves, bears or cougars, 2019 was a costly year for Montana livestock owners.

According to Montana Livestock Loss Statistics, a record number of claims were filed with a record amount of reimbursement dollars requested. The agency says they received 363 claims compared to 294 the previous year. And filed claims totaled $247,800, compared to a total of $230,411 in 2018. While the number of claims has risen by about 65 per cent over the past 10 years, the reimbursement amounts requested has nearly tripled.

The claims represent cases where livestock owners filed for reimbursement after wolves, bears and cougars killed their animals.