Overview

• The program now spans multiple western states, deploying quadcopter drone cowhands beyond Oregon’s Klamath Basin into California ranchlands
• Thermal imaging allows crews to detect wolves at night before drones beam the climactic film argument and other sudden sounds
• Cattle fatalities in patrolled areas have plunged from 11 killings over 20 days to just two in the subsequent 85-day patrol period
• Audio cues rotate among heated Marriage Story exchanges, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” gunfire, fireworks and live operator warnings to provoke wolf avoidance
• Endangered-species protections bar lethal control of gray wolves, prompting USDA officials to refine this humane hazing strategy