The Endangered Coyotes of Arcadia
Proposed plan puts predators in the crosshairs
In more recent news, the city of Arcadia located in Southern California approved a lethal management solution. The plan is to euthanize the coyotes that reside within these urban areas.
On Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 7:00 p. m., the Arcadia City Council meeting was called to order. During this time, the council members voted to spend $10,000 to hire a contractor to trap and kill coyotes. Council members met up to discuss the issue, and the meeting ended up being approximately six and a half hours long. During the voting, Mayor Tom Beck was the only one who was against approving this contract.
(The discussion of coyotes starts at hour five, minute twenty-three.)
The reason why this issue had come to prominence recently is because many residents in the Arcadia area are tired of their cats and dogs going missing and getting stalked by coyotes.
Within the debate over the plan to kill coyotes in Arcadia is the question of what obligations do humans have to try and coexist with coyotes.
Acoyote’s diet usually consists of smaller animals such as rabbits, rats, mice, and other rodents. While many people believe that coyotes serve no purpose in the world, they do in fact help regulate the population of smaller mammals. Perhaps only second to humans, coyotes are among the most adaptable species out there. Maybe it’s because their diet is widespread. If they aren’t eating smaller critters, they have no problem eating fallen fruit on yards, or even digging through some old trash. They can survive on either (or both) plants and animals. They can also travel in packs or go it alone. They can go out at night, or roam the streets with the sun shining bright. Coyotes simply do what it takes to survive.
According to Niamh Quinn, a human-wildlife advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension, one of the theories behind removing coyotes from areas of conflict with humans is that the current populations have become too habituated to humans — a fancy way of saying they no longer fear us.
“The idea behind coyote removal is not population reduction.” says Quinn. “The idea behind lethal management is that those coyotes who come in and replace those who have been removed will keep their distance from humans, as well they should.”
For the most part, coyotes do keep their distance from humans and humans, especially when driving — are more likely to harm a coyote than a coyote is to harm a human being.
Animal rights organization PETA and a resident, Sarah Rosenberg filed a lawsuit this month to try and put a stop the Arcadia’s plan to kill coyotes. PETA believes that killing them will tear apart wildlife families and will leave young, newborn coyotes as orphans, leaving them to starve.
Some Arcadians also oppose the kill. A Sarah Rosenberg told the Pasadena Star News that she and her husband moved to Arcadia from West Hollywood in order to be around more green space and to teach her children how to coexist with and respect nature. “The trapping plan is a despicable and inhumane use of residents’ tax money,” said Rosenberg.
On the other side of the debate are folks like Councilman Roger Chandler who had voited in favor of the euthanization program. In the same article, he called the coyote plan a “lose-lose situation”, but said ultimately the city must protect residents whose dogs and cats are being “mauled and killed. We don’t want to annihilate coyotes in the city,” Chandler said earlier this month. “We just want to thin the herd, and we found this to be effective in the past.”
According to it’s website, “Project Coyote is a national non-profit organization, comprised of a coalition of scientists, educators, ranchers and citizen leaders promoting compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife through education, science and advocacy. We work to change laws and policies to protect native carnivores from abuse and mismanagement, advocating coexistence instead of killing. We seek to change negative attitudes toward coyotes, wolves and other misunderstood predators by replacing ignorance and fear with understanding, respect and appreciation.”
Project Coyote attempts to educate how people and wild animals can live side by side. Some ways of keeping coyotes from getting too close to homes include not leaving pet food outside, picking up fruit that’s fallen in the yard, clear bushes or shrubs and eliminate available outdoor water sources. If one just so happens to come close enough, make loud noise with pots and pans an air horn, or scare it away with a water hose. Also, don’t let your pets outside late at night and make sure your trash cans are closed. Though this won’t completely prevent coyotes from coming around, it will decrease your chances of having an encounter.
