Photo: A coyote carries its prey.
The California Fish & Game Commission approved a process this week that could lead to a vote this summer on a law banning predator killing contests and tournaments.
The commission voted 3-2 in favor of issuing a proposed rule after wildlife advocates submitted 13,000 letters and e-mails demanding a stop to the indiscriminate killing of coyotes and other predators.
The decision opens a public comment period ending Aug. 6, when the commission is expected to make a final decision.
“This vote brings us one step closer to reforming how predators are managed in this state,” said Camilla Fox, executive director of the advocacy groupProject Coyote, which submitted the petition asking for the law. “Most people are shocked to learn that it is legal to kill coyotes, foxes, bobcats and other wildlife as part of a tournament for prizes and recreational fun. They’re even more shocked to learn that thousands of such contests take place each year in the U.S., killing tens of thousands of wild animals.”
The proposed law would make it illegal to offer a prize, inducement or reward for killing predators. The campaign began after conservationists got wind of a three-day Coyote Drive held each February in the woodlands around the rural town of Adin, in the far northeastern corner of California. Another impetus was the wounding of warden Bob Pera, who was mistakenly shot by an El Dorado County coyote and fox hunter on Valentine’s Day.
Ranchers say they need to manage coyotes in particular because they are responsible for the vast majority of livestock deaths. The problem, according to conservationists, is that hunting coyotes does not reduce their population. Studies have shown that coyotes breed more often and have more puppies when the pack leaders are killed. That’s because the leaders, or alphas, in a coyote pack are the only animals that mate. When the alpha is killed, all the previously celibate underlings can then mate.
Originally reported by Peter Fimrite in San Francisco Gate.
