Coyote Depredation Management
Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:01 pm
This paper examines the severity of livestock depredation by coyotes (Canis latrans),
reviews evidence implicating breeding (or ?alpha?) coyotes in the majority of incidents,
evaluates currently used depredation control techniques, and suggests directions
for future research. Nonlethal control ranges from varied animal husbandry
practices to coyote behavioral modification or sterilization. These methods show significant
promise but have not been proven effective in controlled experiments.
Therefore, many livestock producers rely on lethal control, and most employ nonselective
strategies aimed at local population reduction. Sometimes this approach is
effective; other times it is not. This strategy can fail because the alpha coyotes, most
likely to kill livestock, are the most resistant to nonselective removal techniques. An
alternative is selective lethal control. Livestock Protection Collars (LPCs) and coyote
calling are the primary selective lethal approaches. However, LPCs do not have support
from the general public due to the toxicant used, and the factors affecting the
selectivity of coyote calling have not been studied. The greatest impediments to effective
coyote depredation management currently are a scarcity of selective control
methods, our lack of understanding of the details of coyote behavioral ecology relative
to livestock depredation and wild prey abundance, the absence of solid research
examining the effectiveness of different control techniques in a variety of habitats and
at multiple predation intensities, and the dearth of rigorous controlled experiments
analyzing the operational efficacy of selective removal versus population reduction.
http://www.coyotehunter.net/upload/Mitc ... dation.pdf
reviews evidence implicating breeding (or ?alpha?) coyotes in the majority of incidents,
evaluates currently used depredation control techniques, and suggests directions
for future research. Nonlethal control ranges from varied animal husbandry
practices to coyote behavioral modification or sterilization. These methods show significant
promise but have not been proven effective in controlled experiments.
Therefore, many livestock producers rely on lethal control, and most employ nonselective
strategies aimed at local population reduction. Sometimes this approach is
effective; other times it is not. This strategy can fail because the alpha coyotes, most
likely to kill livestock, are the most resistant to nonselective removal techniques. An
alternative is selective lethal control. Livestock Protection Collars (LPCs) and coyote
calling are the primary selective lethal approaches. However, LPCs do not have support
from the general public due to the toxicant used, and the factors affecting the
selectivity of coyote calling have not been studied. The greatest impediments to effective
coyote depredation management currently are a scarcity of selective control
methods, our lack of understanding of the details of coyote behavioral ecology relative
to livestock depredation and wild prey abundance, the absence of solid research
examining the effectiveness of different control techniques in a variety of habitats and
at multiple predation intensities, and the dearth of rigorous controlled experiments
analyzing the operational efficacy of selective removal versus population reduction.
http://www.coyotehunter.net/upload/Mitc ... dation.pdf