Weiner is also a fan of this approach and is one of the countryвЂ™s only breeders of Akbash dogs. One of Stone's primary techniques employs guardian dog teams to protect livestock and repel wolves. The project has maintained the lowest loss rates in the sheep-crowded Sawtooth Mountains for the last decadeвЂ“вЂ“without killing any wolves. Wood River Wolf Project in Idaho, an initiative she helped found, brings together local scientists, public officials, and ranchers.

New techniquesД«ut they also need to implement proven strategies, like those put in place by conservationist Suzanne Stone, with Defenders of Wildlife. Indeed, many of the conferenceвЂ™s presenters acknowledged an urgent need to seek better training for rangers and improve communications between NPA management teams and the ranching community. ItвЂ™s still easier for people who see a wolf to shoot it.вЂќ Ranchers вЂњdonвЂ™t have enough trust to take the risk of implementing nonlethal wolf controls if they are uncertain it will succeed.

IsraelвЂ™s chief predator ecologist for Golan, Alon Reichman, says that scientists and ranchers need to establish a certain level of rapport. Yet for now, the Druze in Golan remain in protest of IsraelвЂ™s control of the territory. They understand how a unified Golan ranching community, could well strengthen relations across the Middle East. Many of the conference attendees regretted the lack of Druze presence, vowing to begin outreach efforts in earnest. Also known as sodium fluoroacetate, the chemical kills non-target animals like critically endangered griffin vultures, other predators, and even other livestock.ДЄnother challenge to coexistence is involving the Druze, whose communities are spread throughout Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and who herd about half of GolanвЂ™s livestock. ItвЂ™s this gap that can lead GolanвЂ™s locals to hire out bounties, or sprinkle an inexpensive blood toxin, called 1080, onto carcasses to kill wolves (though it remains illegal). вЂњWhen I call the Nature and Parks Authority,вЂќ Weiner continues, вЂњthe rangers donвЂ™t have expertise. Often times, this leads to anger, and to shootings and poisonings of wolves. You have to persuade him with something that works.вЂќ And currently if a rancherвЂ™s cattle die, causing economic pain, there is no real recourse. вЂњIn Israel, the ranchers learned by watching cowboy movies,вЂќ Weiner says, speaking figuratively. Omer Weiner, a supportive and well-respected Golan rancher whoвЂ™s lived and worked in the area since 1967, says the problem is a difficult one. More than 40 wildlife experts, conservationists, and even a few ranchers gathered at the Compassionate Conservation Middle East in December, at Golan HeightsвЂ™ Shamir Research Institute, to work towards a ceasefire between people and carnivores. Still, the animals breed enough to maintain an even, albeit vulnerable, population.Д«ut a small number of researchers and locals in the region hope to improve the situation, in ways that could be beneficial to wolves and people, by introducing nonlethal predator controls that have worked in places like Europe and the Northern Rockies. Around 80 wolves making up eight or nine packs live in GolanвЂ™s north, and each year about 30 of them are killed or poisoned in retaliation for agricultural damages. Ranchers lose approximately 200 cattle and sheep each year to wolves, according to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and most donвЂ™t want the predators on their land. The government rewards such killings, at 2,000 shekels (more than $500) a hide-and a quarter of that per wolf cub. Ironically, when the wolves venture out of the conflict area to scavenge and hunt, they can be legally shot.

This petite wolf subspecies, weighing around 45 pounds, is not heavy enough to detonate the GolanвЂ™s explosives, and has made the war zone their home. Amid this strife, an unlikely resident has moved in: a scarce breed of Indian wolves ( Canis lupus pallipes). In recent months, skirmishes continue to erupt along the 1974 ceasefire line, near which Israeli and Syrian forces have planted hundreds of thousands of landmines. The herds are kept by Jewish and Druze farmers ranging from Mount Hermon south to the Sea of GalileeвЂ™s receding arms. There, mixed with surprising wildlife like jackals and gazelle on the verge of extinction, 25,000 cattle roam the grassy bluffs of GolanвЂ™s volcanic plateau. The landscape is notable for its militarily advantageous high grounds, supplies of oil and freshwater, and extraordinary natural habitat. Largely occupied by Israel, its eastern reaches are controlled by Syria and Syrian rebels-and itвЂ™s been fought over for at least the last 70-some years. The Golan Heights remains one of the worldвЂ™s most notorious disputed territories.

Goland heights