Wildlife damage on farms is significant and on the rise

Guelph (May 13, 2009) Over the last 10 years, wildlife damage costs to Ontario crops and livestock have increased by almost 20%. In fact, researchers at the George Morris Centre believe that number is likely a conservative estimate. In an update to the 2000 report, ‘Wildlife Impact Assessment for Ontario Agriculture’, commissioned by the Ontario Soil and Crop Association (OSCIA), loss rates for crops and livestock from 1998 were revised, based on currently available data, for the period 2005 - 2007.

According to Al Mussell, senior research associate and lead author of the report, “our goal was to update the work done in 2000 on the cost of wildlife damage to crops and livestock in Ontario, based on more recent conditions. Our results showed that wildlife damage costs had increased by about 20% since 1998, even with the exclusion of effects from new wildlife species, and with a very compact list of field and horticultural crops impacted. We can quantify losses of about $41 million per year, but the true value of wildlife damage is apt to be significantly higher.”

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For more information on the economic study, please contact Al Mussell at the George Morris Centre, 519-822-3929 ext. 209
For more information on initiatives arising from this study, please contact Murray Cochrane at the OSCIA, 705-842-5622 or use the following Email contact form.