Canada, coyote killing seasons are cruel AND they don't work!
There are so many good reasons not to launch a killing campaign against Canada's coyotes. Coyotes help farmers by controlling rodent populations. Lethal control campaigns also suck up a lot of tax dollars. But the best reason to leave coyotes in peace?
Killing them doesn't work.
When humans go on a hunting and killing spree, coyotes respond by going into a breeding frenzy. According to a recent editorial in The Star, a 2009-2010 coyote bounty killed a grand total of 18,000 animals in Saskatchewan, but trappers and wildlife advocates agree that the coyote populations in that province are just as strong today as they were two years ago. Tell Canada's law makers to craft coexistence policies that minimize coyote damage to livestock and allow people to live in peace with this wily critter who looks surprisingly similar to man's best friend.
We the undersigned ask that you refrain from opening season on coyotes. Not only do coyotes offer ecological and agricultural benefits--such as rodent control--science now tells us that efforts to thin the coyote population are destined to fail. Typically, coyote bounties pick off the alpha males who keep other coyotes, especially rowdy adolescents, in line. Furthermore, when more habitat and resources become available, female coyotes accelerate their breeding and coyotes from other regions immigrate to fill in the void left by hunting. The sensible solution to coyote/human encounters is education combined with a coexistence plan. Please don't kill your coyotes.
