Man was the only creature given the possibility of immortality by God. The cows, goats and my cat never had that possibility. To interpret this verse as implying that the death of animals prior to the advent of sin is taking the verse further than it wants to go. The very fact that God created reproduction argues very strongly that death, at least for the animals was part of the creation. Bacterial reproduction, if unchecked by death and stasis, would cover the earth in less than a week's time.
Cockroaches are well renown for their reproductive success.
The creation suffers from man's sin far beyond mere death. But the above passage does not say that creation was subject to death, but to futility. No matter what man does in the area of conservation and ecology, he faces a Hobson's choice. Save one species but at the expense of another. By allowing the saving the wolf, we run the risk of killing off other species because of their predation.