The Manitoba government is launching a three-year applied research project to identify and test ways to reduce economic loss from livestock being killed by predators.

The Manitoba government is providing a $300,000 grant over three years for the Livestock Predation Prevention Project

The project will be monitored by the Livestock Predation Protection Working Group.

Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen said that this issue has been causing substantial economic losses.

“Wildlife predation of commercial livestock is a significant problem for Manitoba producers, with more than 2,000 commercial animals lost each year,” said Pedersen. “This results in significant economic losses to producers, as well as higher costs to Manitobans through their share of compensation under the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program funded by the federal and provincial governments.”

The research project will target the highest-known predation areas and currently the highest incidence of predation is in the northern Interlake and Parkland regions.