The original idea promoted by Chesher’s Outdoor Store, in Bellville, Ontario, was to hand out cash and prizes to the hunters who killed the biggest coyotes, the smallest, and the highest number, as well as a prize for each dead coyote. But, under Section 11 of the provincial Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act – unless specifically authorized by the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry – it is illegal for a person to (a) hunt for hire, gain, or expectation of gain; (b) hire, employ, or induce another person to hunt for gain; (c) trap for hire, gain, or the expectation of gain; (d) hire, employ, or induce another person to trap for gain; or (e) pay or accept a bounty.
Despite the clarity of the law prohibiting this type of contest, the government allowed the store to modify its plan slightly to award hunters who shoot the 10 largest coyotes and the smallest during the month of February, and proceed with the event.
The legality of this killing contest is questionable at best, but the immorality of it is not in question. Not only does it glorify mass slaughter of coyotes, it places wolves and dogs at risk, too.
Coyotes can be difficult to distinguish from wolves. There are two species of wolves in Ontario. One of these species, the Algonquin, or eastern, wolf is an endangered species. They are on average larger than coyotes, but they otherwise resemble them. While Algonquin wolves are not found around Bellville, hunters can participate in this contest just a couple of hours away by car, in areas where Algonquin wolves are found. These endangered wolves should not be put at risk for the sake of a ridiculous and cruel killing contest.
Coyotes can also resemble certain dog breeds, such as German Shepherds, putting dogs in peril, too. Coyotes generally begin to whelp in mid-March, so people with look-alike dog breeds, including some smaller dogs, need beware that they could be caught in the crossfire!
A couple of hundred years of history demonstrates that bounties, which is all this really is, do not work to achieve what is presumably the intended aim (rightly or wrongly) of this contest – to reduce coyote numbers. Unlike wolves, coyotes are incredibly resilient. They are survivors. Therefore, if the purpose is to reduce the population of coyotes, it will not work.
What purpose does this killing contest serve? Not wildlife population control. And, surely not wildlife conservation. Instead, this contest merely appeals to the joy some people take in killing for the sake of killing.
I find joy in and celebrate life. There is a group of six coyotes who live in the area behind my back fence. This is my neighborhood, and it is also theirs. Long may I, and other compassionate people in our neighborhood, enjoy their enthusiastic yapping and howling on a cold, starlit winter night!
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry
