If we remove Russia (that is huge and a special case), Spain is the European country with a highest wolf population. We have much more wolves than countries like Norway or Sweden. The Spanish government pays around 1.5 million euro each year to farmers for covering damages
With sexy results. Lets see some curious discoveries in the biology of Spanish wolves:
1) Wolves start eating its preys by the most delicious part of the cattle: the livestock ear tag. A plastic piece that grants that the animal has been legally breed and registered, (and is often missing in the corpses). Having in mind that tag remains don't appear in the wolf scats, It seems that wolves love to collect them for the cubs.
2) Some cows were killed by wolves three times in three different places. The cow remains teleport mysteriously each time to another location.
3) Some farmers act as black holes for cattle. There is a strong suspicion that their entire business model consist into buying cheap foals and decrepit old goats in another province, let them alone and unprotected in the national park and wait for the corpse to be found. Some of this professionals of producing meat haven't sold a single animal or put a single sausage in the market... in decades.
4) It is suspected that scabies killing the endangered Pyrenean Chamois in the national park was introduced with those diseased goats.
5) Statistics about cattle dying by natural causes drop when government start paying wolf damages. Suddenly there is not more cows dying after giving birth, or from old age, or falling from a cliff. Is a well known secret that when you have an animal that needs an expensive veterinary procedure, borrowing a mastiff from a friend will fix the problem... and then you cry wolf, of course.
6) After introducing saliva analysis in Pyrenees looking for wolf DNA in the attacked cattle, the number of wolf attacks dropped from 100 to 7 in the next year. The analysis found that shepherd dogs owned by farmers were the real culprits in practically all attacks. Shepherd dogs had being videotaped feasting on cows and sheep. They respect its own herd, but will attack other herds. Everybody knows this.
7) Some farmers manage somehow to lost 600 sheep year after year without a trace, by the attack of magical wolves driving a van. We pay them up to 24.000 euro/year with tax money so they can be happy again. But they aren't, and ask for more.
And well, "You know how flammable is the forest, do you?, Everything could start burning some of those days if you don't allow us to put cattle here..."
Bribe and blackmail seem a little more reasonable in that context. However, it seems that you are talking about free ranging goats in the actual national park. In that case I think no compensation should be paid since the rancher is already making use of a public good. Then the ranger should assume the risk by himself.
And of course, claims of wolf attacks outside of those national lands should be supported by physical evidence. DNA testing is quite cheap, it sounds that Spain i simply doing the compensation payouts wrong.
For a lot of time it was a problem of politicians willing to keep the social peace, buying local vote, and choosing not to act. Is not so easy money as it was, but still happens. More examples:
In Jun 2021 a team of six farmers in the North of Spain were accused of scamming 60.000 euro of public funds. They claimed to have lost 170 animals between 2019 and 2020 but were caught putting food for attracting wolves and then removing small foals from its mothers and abandoning them in the same place so the wolves do their thing. They also killed 6 wolves that are a protected species.
In a classic 'The Goodfather' style, head wolves and wolf corpses have been found hanging from road signs in several parts of the Cantabric mountains.
... and after a farmers protest in Infiesto, somebody trow a decapitated wolf head in the public pool (2018).
Politicians in environmental positions, have been harassed and pressed to gimme-more also.
In 2014, more than 300 farmers were accused of scam after being caught billing twice for each animal to insurance (that was paid in part with public founds) and then to the government.
Some forest guards had being accused to turning a blind eye when filling the reports of attacks and report all as wolf attacks to benefit farmers from their own family. Other guards received death threats and found their cars scratched for not willing to bend and do the same.
etc, etc, etc...
In resume, free money leads to bad apples gaming the system. If USA follows the same path there is a strong possibility that will end facing exactly the same problems.
With sexy results. Lets see some curious discoveries in the biology of Spanish wolves:
1) Wolves start eating its preys by the most delicious part of the cattle: the livestock ear tag. A plastic piece that grants that the animal has been legally breed and registered, (and is often missing in the corpses). Having in mind that tag remains don't appear in the wolf scats, It seems that wolves love to collect them for the cubs.
2) Some cows were killed by wolves three times in three different places. The cow remains teleport mysteriously each time to another location.
3) Some farmers act as black holes for cattle. There is a strong suspicion that their entire business model consist into buying cheap foals and decrepit old goats in another province, let them alone and unprotected in the national park and wait for the corpse to be found. Some of this professionals of producing meat haven't sold a single animal or put a single sausage in the market... in decades.
4) It is suspected that scabies killing the endangered Pyrenean Chamois in the national park was introduced with those diseased goats.
5) Statistics about cattle dying by natural causes drop when government start paying wolf damages. Suddenly there is not more cows dying after giving birth, or from old age, or falling from a cliff. Is a well known secret that when you have an animal that needs an expensive veterinary procedure, borrowing a mastiff from a friend will fix the problem... and then you cry wolf, of course.
6) After introducing saliva analysis in Pyrenees looking for wolf DNA in the attacked cattle, the number of wolf attacks dropped from 100 to 7 in the next year. The analysis found that shepherd dogs owned by farmers were the real culprits in practically all attacks. Shepherd dogs had being videotaped feasting on cows and sheep. They respect its own herd, but will attack other herds. Everybody knows this.
7) Some farmers manage somehow to lost 600 sheep year after year without a trace, by the attack of magical wolves driving a van. We pay them up to 24.000 euro/year with tax money so they can be happy again. But they aren't, and ask for more.
And well, "You know how flammable is the forest, do you?, Everything could start burning some of those days if you don't allow us to put cattle here..."