A recently proposed amendment from a member of the House Fish and Game Committee suggested extending nighttime hunting of coyotes. We believe this proposal exhibits a profound misunderstanding of the role of predators and a personal disdain for coyotes.
Decades of research shows that coyote killing does not reduce their population, and in the long term increases it (Click this link to understand why). Biologists at Fish and Game understand this and in our view have an obligation to educate their constituency on coyote biology.
Read more in a letter to the editor of the Concord Monitor from Chris Schadler, a co-founder of NH Wildlife Coalition and the NH and VT Rep for Project Coyote, a national organization promoting coexistence with coyotes. For the past 30 years, Chris has lectured throughout New England on the Eastern Coyote.
Click this link for the full letter:
http://www.concordmonitor.com/Let-coyotes-do-what-they-do-8029035
To learn more about the role of predators in the ecosystem and some of the latest thinking on predator management, review the following paper: “Carnivore conservation: shifting the paradigm from control to coexistence“. Among other topics this paper discusses, the “Unintended Consequences of Predator Removal”.
Use arrow in lower left hand corner to scroll through pages in the following document or download the PDF.
