Anti-Wolf Collars for Livestock

Ticino scientists have developed a wolf-repellent collar to protect livestock.

The solution does not guarantee complete protection against predators. However, the loss rate of 1.4% is very encouraging, said developer Davide Staedler.

The collar disperses pheromones, said the chemist in an interview with the Fribourg daily newspaper «La Liberté». These natural chemical substances “act like a boundary. They signal to the predator's brain that this prey and this territory do not belong to it,” the chemist explained.

After tests in the laboratory and at the Austrian zoo Buchenberg, Staedler and ethology biologist Federico Tettamanti equipped 728 livestock in Switzerland and Italy with the collars this year, “mainly goats, sheep and calves”. The evaluation of the trial is expected to be completed in autumn.

However, the collar is not entirely effective, the scientist concedes: “So far we have had a total of ten victims. Seven of them were killed in a major attack in Grisons.” According to Staedler, all fatal attacks but one occurred in herds where only some of the animals were wearing the collar. It would therefore likely be necessary to fit all animals with a collar.

The project is currently self-funded and the collars are handmade. However, the Federal Office for the Environment has expressed its interest in supporting cantons that wish to protect their livestock with the collar. “The French state will fund a pilot project in the department of Lot, and in Italy, in Trentino, we have entered into discussions with the regional authorities,” Staedler added.