Coyotes are top killers on Ontario farms

Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum

OTTAWA — Coyotes remain the undisputed top killers of Ontario farm animals, as losses and compensation payouts for damages inflicted by all kinds of predators surged by another 28 % in the 2025-26 fiscal year ending March 31.

Ontario farmers lost 3,247 animals to predation and received just over $1.9 million from the Ontario Wildlife Damage Compensation Program in the year just concluded. On both counts, that’s a 28% increase over the 2,537 farm animals lost and $1.5 million paid out in 2024, which in turn was up 47 % from a year earlier.

The toll of dead animals on the province’s farms hasn’t been this high in 10 years. The province last paid out on more than 3,000 claims in 2016-17 when the casualties exceeded 4,500.
By head count, sheep were again the primary target, with 743 animals lost to predation, followed by cattle at 628 head, while chicken losses reached 622. Other notable losses included 811 turkeys and 250 ring-necked pheasants.

Coyotes were responsible for the vast majority of the damage, accounting for 1,635 livestock deaths and over $1.56 million in total compensation. Kills inflicted by coyotes alone increased nearly 12 % from a year earlier, with related compensation up more than 30 %. The wily canines picked off 704 sheep, 534 cattle, 250 ring-necked pheasants, 67 ducks, 41 chickens, 19 goats, 5 turkeys, 5 elk, 4 deer, 2 alpacas, 2 geese, 1 donkey and 1 horse.

While coyotes dominated the stats, other predators made significant impacts.

Bears killed 25 animals — 16 cattle, 8 sheep, 1 bison — as well as bee colonies worth over $95,000 alone. Although ministry of agriculture officials are no longer willing to supply data on the type of farm animals killed on a county-by-county basis — breaking with a 20-year practice — it’s still possible to determine this by process of elimination and deduction in some cases. For example, the math shows that the single bison kill inflicted by a bear occurred in either Rainy River District or Renfrew County.

Likewise, cougars killed 1 cow (in Leeds & Grenville) and 3 sheep (2 in Lennox & Addington and 1 in Peterborough County) — a decrease from the 10 sheep taken by the elusive feline species a year earlier.

Wolves killed 43 cattle and 4 sheep, along with a donkey, a goat, an elk and a deer. Ravens, which go after very young animals shortly after birth, killed 29 cattle, 19 sheep and an elk.
By sheer headcount, Wellington County recorded the highest volume of kills, and it was due to a single species: Mink massacred 800 young turkeys valued at $1,752.

Livestock owners in Durham County collected the most in payouts, with $278,403 awarded for 230 livestock animals lost to seven predator species, including the bear, coyote, wolf, mink, weasel, crow and raven.