Coyotes are a big subject at this time of year. If we are to have a coyote encounter, it will likely be now because it is their mating time and they are on the move.
Many people mistakenly interpret this as brazen coyote behaviour and bounty calls reach a fever pitch. But fact is, the more coyotes are killed, the more they are likely to prosper.
Attempts to reduce coyote numbers have failed because their populations exhibit strong compensatory responses to lethal control. While lethal action may result in short-term reductions in a specific area, the vacuum is soon filled by coyotes emigrating from surrounding areas and shifts in neighbouring packs.
Most importantly, lethal control disrupts the social hierarchy of coyote packs, causing them to disperse and allowing more females to breed. Females in exploited populations tend to have larger litters because competition for food is reduced and more unoccupied habitat is available. In areas where one family group ruled, now two or three families may exist.
Lethal control also results in coyotes that are more successful, wary, nocturnal and resilient; what some biologists call a 'super coyote'. This compensatory response applies to many so-called 'nuisance' species, such as white-tailed deer.
Saskatchewan issued a coyote bounty over the winter of 2009/2010, aimed at thinning out the coyote population. Despite 18,000 coyotes being killed in just a few weeks, those familiar with the resilient animals say the population is as strong as ever today. Saskatchewan trappers reported killing double the number of animals in less time this winter than before the bounty.
Coyotes are primarily killed to protect livestock. While a century of sustained lethal predator control has done little to mitigate conflicts between livestock producers and native carnivores, the ecological effects of removing large carnivores from the landscape may have long-term consequences. By studying the effects of their removal on ecosystems, biologists have found that many large native carnivores are "keystone species" vital to maintaining ecological integrity and species diversity. Disappearance of a keystone species can trigger the loss of other resident species through a 'domino effect' that dramatically changes the habitat.
As argued by conservation biologists, current knowledge about the natural processes that maintain biodiversity suggests an irreplaceable role of top predators. Their absence appears to lead inexorably to ecosystem simplification, accompanied by a rush of extinctions.
Remarkably, wildlife control agencies have never comprehensively assessed the overall costs of predator control programs on species diversity and ecological integrity. As an increasing number of farmers recognize coyotes as beneficial predators, offering free rodent control among other ecosystem services, they understand that a combination of predator deterrents and animal husbandry techniques can "teach" resident coyotes to leave livestock alone. These coyotes will also keep away transient juvenile coyotes that are prone to prey on domestic animals.
By learning how to co-exist with coyotes instead of opting for ineffective killing programs, ecosystems are kept healthy and we all benefit. It just makes sense.
Camilla Fox is the executive director of Project Coyote and AnnaMaria Valastro is executive director of Peaceful Parks Coalition.