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Programs

Project Coyote creates innovative solutions that foster peaceful coexistence between people and coyotes. We champion progressive management policies that reduce the number of human-coyote conflicts and the number of coyotes destroyed. We believe that, as North America’s native wild "song dog", coyotes are a vital component of our rural and urban communities, deserving respect for their adaptability, resilience, and intelligence. We accomplish this through a variety of programs, campaigns, and strategies including:

Educational Outreach
Project Coyote aims to shift attitudes toward coyotes and other wildlife by replacing ignorance and fear with understanding and respect. We provide information and resources to both urban and rural communities about coyotes, and how we can better coexist with them. We believe that public education is at the core of accomplishing these goals, and every Project Coyote program, campaign, and strategy starts from this premise. Through our various educational programs and materials, we help communities, wildlife managers, and individuals learn about the important ecological role that coyotes play in our varied ecosystems and what we can do to reduce negative encounters with this adaptable, resilient, and intelligent native carnivore.

Presentations and Training Workshops
From east to west, north to south, Project Coyote staff and select Advisory Board members offer public presentations to communities on a wide range of topics. We also provide training to those charged with reducing conflicts between coyotes and people, including Animal Control Officers and law enforcement agencies. If you are interested in having a Project Coyote staff member or Advisory Board member speak to your community or provide a training workshop, please email us at info@projectcoyote.org

Community Outreach Program
Because human-coyote/predator conflicts are often site-specific and regional in scope, Project Coyote aims to assist communities with specific proactive, long-term management plans and policies that foster peaceful coexistence with coyotes. We help facilitate inter-governmental agency and inter-organizational communication toward this goal and provide the tools, expertise, and resources necessary for success. Our staff and Advisory Board members are skilled in carnivore conservation and human-wildlife conflict mitigation and have track records that demonstrate success. If your community is in need of resources and/or assistance in this capacity, please peruse the plethora of resources we have on our website (COMING SOON!) and feel free to contact us at info@projectcoyote.org for more information. (Please note- Project Coyote has limited staff capacity so may not be able to respond to your request right away).

Collaboration
Project Coyote fosters innovative and effective coexistence strategies between people and coyotes and supports research toward this goal. We promote collaboration between government agencies, and build networks with carnivore experts, ecologists, researchers, and organizations that share a similar vision. We believe that such collaborations are beneficial to all, and will help those concerned with carnivore conservation. We assist in efforts to resolve human-wildlife conflicts by spending time and resources on new projects, rather than re-creating what already exists. We also believe that conflict resolution requires partnerships and outreach among varied interest groups and agencies with a vested interest in promoting long-term and effective approaches to human-wildlife coexistence. One of the ways we do this is through our participation on the steering committee of the Human Wildlife Conflict Collaboration — a global partnership of more than 70 organizations and institutions that support greater inter-disciplinary and multi-sector collaboration on Human-Wildlife Conflict.

Advocacy
As the most persecuted native carnivore in North America today, an estimated 500,000 coyotes are killed every year by government-funded predator control programs, trappers, hunters, and ranchers. Tools of the trade include poisons, neck snares, body-gripping traps, aerial gunning, denning (killing pups in their dens), hounding (chasing coyotes with hounds and either treeing and shooting them, or letting the hounds kill them) and call and shoot (where prey or distressed coyote calls are mimicked to draw coyotes into sight of a hunter). Coyotes are still legally bountied in certain jurisdictions in North America and are killed for recreation in contest hunts. Project Coyote seeks to reduce the number of coyotes that are indiscriminately destroyed every year in the United States and the non-selective and inhumane methods used to kill them. We believe that the culture of killing that has permeated predator management historically must change to reflect ecosystem-based science and shifts in public consciousness and awareness about our responsibility to preserve and conserve the natural world—our children’s heritage. We do this by advocating on behalf of coyotes and other wildlife at the federal, state, and local level before legislators, state and federal wildlife agencies, and other government agencies. We offer expertise, tools, and information about effective, long-term approaches to mitigate conflicts and promote coexistence and tolerance that are site-specific, science-based, and tailored to community’s needs. We focus on legislation, policy change, public and media outreach, collaboration, and grassroots organizing to achieve these goals.

Media Outreach
Project Coyote believes that the media plays a pivotal role in both information transfer and in shaping public opinions and attitudes about coyotes and other carnivores. We seek to create fundamental and systemic change in the way wild carnivores are viewed and treated in North America. By means of Opinion Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and targeted articles, we reach thousands of Americans with our message and information. We build relationships with reporters, writers, filmmakers, professional photographers, and artists to help promote our mission and message. We have talented writers on our staff and Advisory Board with extensive experience in writing articles, books, and other publications about coyotes and other carnivores. To see articles, op eds and books about coyotes and other carnivores by Project Coyote staff and Advisory Board members, please visit our News/Media and Links/Resources page

We believe that film, television, and other multi-media tools are instrumental in reaching and informing the public about coyotes, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, and the important ecological role native carnivores play in North America. We work with filmmakers and television producers to help deliver our message to a broader audience. We also have talented filmmakers on our staff and Advisory Board. To see and purchase some of the films in which Project Coyote staff are featured, visit our films section.

Research Support &Information
Project Coyote aims to support and promote innovative research into humane, practical, and ecologically-based approaches to coyote-human/livestock conflicts. We work with researchers to identify areas that need further investigation and we organize collaborative enterprises at conferences and other venues to further this goal. Through our website we provide a centralized resource about current coyote research projects underway throughout North American and a comprehensive database of coyote research articles, theses, and dissertations (COMING SOON!). Our resources are a valuable tool for coyote researchers, students, wildlife managers, and anyone interested in this native canid, and are meant in part to promote networking and information-sharing between coyote researchers and other professionals who work on coyote-related issues.

Website Information, Tools & Resources
Through our comprehensive website, we provide the resources, tools, and information that communities and individuals need to better understand coyotes and to learn about ways to effectively coexist with this adaptable, resilient, and intelligent native carnivore. Whether you’re a wildlife manager seeking information about coyote policies and management strategies in other communities; a rancher looking for information about innovative ways to mitigate conflicts between coyotes and livestock; a policymaker seeking information about laws pertaining to coyotes; a researcher wanting to know about current coyote research underway in North America; or an individual who is simply curious about coyotes, their life history and behavior, Project Coyote’s website provides a centralized resource of information. We also provide up to date news, and action oriented information about coyotes both regionally and nationally. Bookmark our website and visit us often for timely information and new resources!

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