Halifax, NS | Thu, May 26th, 2011
2,600 coyotes killed through provincial bounty program
Cull has reduced complaints about aggressive animals, minister says
By MELANIE PATTEN The Canadian Press
Thu, May 26 - 4:55 AM
A bounty on coyotes that has paid out more than $50,000 to hunters has made Nova Scotia safer, the province’s natural resources minister said Wednesday amid criticism that the program is a waste of public money.
More than 2,600 coyotes were killed during the first year of the program, about 900 more than the year before, the provincial government said.
Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker said his department has received fewer reports of aggressive coyotes since the $20-per-pelt bounty was put in place last fall.
He said coyotes are growing more fearful of humans.
"Our overall objective is to make the province safer for Nova Scotians and try to increase that wariness in the coyote population so they have less encounters with people," he said in an interview.
"It looks positive at this point that that’s working."
The government introduced the bounty to encourage more trappers to hunt the animals, which have been turning up in more populated areas of Nova Scotia in recent years.
The Natural Resources Department said $52,860 was paid out for the 2,643 coyotes that were killed from last October to the end of the hunting season on March 31. There were 1,736 coyotes killed the year before the bounty was in place.
Leo Glavine, natural resources critic for the Opposition Liberals, said the bounty is a misuse of taxpayers’ dollars at a time when government departments are facing budget cuts.
He also said there’s no proof that bounties are effective.
"You don’t change hundreds of years of the evolutionary process of animals," he said, adding that it’s possible the bounty will have the opposite effect by encouraging coyotes to breed more to boost their numbers.
Coyote encounters in Nova Scotia became a sensitive issue in October 2009 after a young Toronto woman was mauled to death while hiking alone in Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
Taylor Mitchell’s death was the first recorded fatal coyote attack in Nova Scotia, and only the second in North America. The first came in 1981 when a toddler was killed in California.
Glavine said he spoke recently with Mitchell’s mother, who expressed her opposition to the bounty.
"She was horrified that the province did institute the bounty," he said. "She spends as much time as possible going around to schools in Ontario talking about the coyote and its place in nature."
Parker said his department will review this year’s bounty to determine if the initiative will continue. He said dissenting opinions questioning the program’s effectiveness will also be taken into consideration.
But he said the bottom line remains safety.
"Most (coyotes) are fine and work in our wildlife mix — there’s no difficulty with them," said Parker. "It just takes a few though that are aggressive and can cause problems."
The bounty is part of a four-step plan outlined last fall by the government intended to reduce coyote attacks. It also included hiring a biologist to focus on human-wildlife conflict, training trappers and increasing education about dealing with the animals.
© 2011 The Halifax Herald Limited
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1245324.html
