October 2012
I am thrilled to share the fantastic news that this past week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1221 into law — making California the 15th state to prohibit the hounding of bears and the 14th state to ban the hounding of bobcats!
In addition, Brown signed several other positive wildlife bills, including AB 2402, which changes the name of the California Department of Fish and Game to “Department of Fish and Wildlife” and thus acknowledges the agency’s scope of stewardship beyond consumptive wildlife use activities like hunting and trapping.
While we should all be elated at these hard fought wildlife victories, the sad reality is that at least 17 states still allow hound hunting of wildlife and the brutal practice of “penning,” where coyotes and foxes in fenced enclosures are used as live bait to train hunting dogs. And now Wisconsin is proposing hound hunting of wolves, even when the estimated state population is less than 850.
Project Coyote continues to work to reform the way our federal, state, and local governments manage wildlife. Today, I’m headed to Sacramento to testify before the California Fish and Game Commission on behalf of Project Coyote and several other organizations in support of greater protections for wolves entering California.
As you read this newsletter, we are working tirelessly to shift the paradigm from killing to coexistence. We are working with city officials across the nation — including Davis, California and Superior, Colorado — to craft coyote coexistence plans and policies that emphasize education and respect for our wild neighbors instead of fear and persecution.
Read more below and please join me in welcoming the newest member of our pack — Stacey Evans — who is our new Policy & Legislative Associate out of Washington DC.
For the Wild,
Camilla H. Fox
Executive Director
P.S. This is a particularly crucial time for Project Coyote and our work to protect coyotes, wolves and other native carnivores — and we could really use your help. I will be sending you more information about our efforts in the coming weeks.
To make a contribution to support Project Coyote today, please click here.
Good News!
Creating Models of Coexistence
When residents of Davis, Calif. learned that the USDA Wildlife Services (WS) killed five coyotes — including four pups — whose only crime was being seen on a golf course, they turned out to express their outrage before the City Council. The City responded by voting unanimously to sever its contract with WS and to work with organizations like Project Coyote to develop a coyote coexistence program. Investigative reporter Tom Knudson of the Sacramento Bee — who earlier this year wrote a four part series exposing Wildlife Services — covered the Davis issue in the Bee and and quoted Project Coyote’s Camilla Fox: “We commend Mayor Krovoza and the City Council for their unanimous decision… Project Coyote has pledged our expertise and educational tools to help chart this new and sensible course for the city of Davis.”
In a similar unfolding in Lake Forest Park, Wash. Michelle LeMoine, a Community Services Commissioner, contacted Project Coyote after learning that USDA WS was brought in to kill resident coyotes. Project Coyote worked with Michelle to develop a humane wildlife management program that incorporates community education, nonlethal hazing techniques, and a no-feeding wildlife ordinance. The plan again was created in response to public outcry after WS was hired to kill coyotes in a residential neighborhood. The new nonlethal plan was formally adopted by the city on May 31, 2012.
In the Spotlight
Meet Stacey Evans, Esq.
Project Coyote’s new Legislative & Policy Associate
Project Coyote is excited to welcome Stacey Evans as our new Policy & Legislative Associate! Stacey is a recognized animal protection leader, as well as an attorney and legislative counsel in Washington, D.C.
Stacey serves on the American Bar Association Animal Law Committee and chairs the Animal Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association. Her work on behalf of animals has been featured in major national media outlets and her work on the coyote/fox penning issue with Project Coyote was recently published in the ABA-TIPS-Animal Law Committee Newsletter. Welcome Stacey!
Coyote & Fox Penning
by Stacey Evans, Esq.
“This glorified form of dog fighting—where dogs are pitted against their canine cousins—is known as fox and coyote penning (penning). This blood sport, where coyotes and foxes are trapped and sold to pens, has existed in the United States at least since the 1980s. These pursuits, which train dogs to hunt coyotes and foxes in the wild, can continue for many days with dogs mauling and tearing apart live captive coyotes and foxes.” ~ Stacey Evans
A Voice for Wildlife
Bringing Ethics & Animal Welfare to Wildlife Conservation
Across North America Project Coyote Representatives are bringing the message of coexistence, the need for predators in healthy ecosystems and the importance of integrating ethics and animal welfare into conservation to key conferences, public forums and the media. Some upcoming events:
*Oct.12th — Project Coyote NH/VT Rep. Chris Schadler will talk about predator friendly ranching at the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Annual Conference.
*Oct. 16th — Camilla Fox will present “Predator “management” in the United States: Values, ethics & alternatives” at The Wildlife Society meeting in Portland, Oregon (Oct. 13-18th). Camilla and Project Coyote Advisory Board member Dr. Paul Paquet are co-organizers of the session “Linking Animal and Conservation Ethics: A Challenge in Conservation” at the conference that includes a dynamic array of speakers from across North America.
*Oct. 16th — Project Coyote CO Rep. Ashley DeLaup will present “Living with Coyotes” as part of PC’s formal partnership with the town of Superior, CO.
*Oct. 27th — Camilla will lead a workshop about coyotes at the Western Women’s Tracking Conf. at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in Occidental, Calif. More info. about these & other upcoming events here.
A recent comprehensive study of coyotes living in the in Chicago Metropolitan area concluded that “Urban Coyotes Never Stray: New Study Finds 100 Percent Monogamy.”
Scientists with Ohio State University who genetically sampled 236 coyotes in the Chicago area over a six-year period found no evidence of the animals having more than one mate — nor of one mate ever leaving another while the other was still alive.
Study co-author Stan Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist with Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, noted that “They separate only upon the death of one of the individuals, so they truly adhere to that philosophy, ‘Till death do us part.’ ” Read more…
Project Coyote in the News
Davis Cuts Ties with Wildlife Services Over Coyote Killings
By Tom Knudson
Sacramento Bee
California City Pursues Good Neighbor Policy with Local Coyotes
AWI Quarterly
Wildlife advocates seek to educate homeowners on ‘coyote hazing’ techniques
By Mariecar Mendoza
Los Angeles Daily News
Opinion: History Has the Answer to Coyote Issue
By Michael Howie
Brant News
Coexisting with Coyotes Tips Card
Coexisting with Coyotes ~ New Resources
Check out our new BE COYOTE AWARE flyer & trail signs now employed by more than two-dozen cities, counties and agencies across North America from San Francisco, California to Niagara Falls, Ontario:
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