Download The Effect of Coyote Removal in Texas

The Effect of Coyote
Removal in Texas
Emilie Lothet and Reshma Patel
Background of Coyotes
 Coyotes are territorial
 Live in small groups
 Consume mammals, fruits,
and insects
 Adapt to human control
 Acute senses
 Keystone species
 Live almost everywhere in
North America—
predominantly southwest
regions
 Type 1 population
 Valued for hunting/fur trade
Coyote Adaptation to Human
Interaction
 Able to avoid human control in general
 Learn to be less active during the day than the night
-humans can find coyotes easily during the day
 Lethal measures must be taken against coyotes because
they adapt to the nonlethal measures (frightening
devices)
 Have the tendency to repopulate areas in which coyotes
were once removed, so control of areas must be taken
quickly
 Learn to avoid control techniques
 Maintain numbers by learning to avoid traps and bait
Problem 1: Removal of Coyotes
 If coyotes are removed,
then, being a keystone
species, other species in
the ecosystem will be
affected
 Coyotes’ prey will
overpopulate (ex:
sheep/goat, deer)
 Overpopulation of prey
can cause inter-species
competition loss of
resources (ex:
overgrazing, loss of
plants)
 Ecosystem will not be
balanced
Solution 1: Introduction of
Coyotes/Wolves etc
 By re-introducing a
keystone species such as
coyotes or wolves, the
ecosystem can be brought
back into order
 The population of prey
species will be reduced, as
long as there is a
proportionate amount of
predators in the area
 Resources can be
replenished
 Species that had similar
diets to coyote prey are
able to flourish again
because their resources
are no longer reduced
Problem 2: Introduction of
Coyotes
 In an ecosystem where
coyotes are a keystone
species, and reproduce at a
rate disproportional to their
prey, the coyotes can pose a
problem
 If there are too many coyotes,
they will consume more prey,
lowering the population of
their prey.
 By doing this, coyotes will
compete and have the
potential to exterminate the
species of prey from the area
 Other predators in Texas, such
as cougars, are also affected
because they feed on the
same prey as coyotes
Solution 2: Removal of Coyotes
 What seems logical is the introduction of gray wolves,
which prey on coyotes; however this is not effective
because the grey wolves would simply produce the same
problem that the coyotes did (they have the same diet)
 So, humans use scare techniques to scare the coyotes
away; however, eventually they become ineffective as
the coyotes adapt to these techniques
 Lethal control: shooting is popularly used to limit the
coyote population, as there is no simple, natural way in
doing so
Coyote Issue Opinion Poll
Urban sanctuary
Killing
Relocation to Desert
No Action
What do
YOU think?
0
10
20
30
40
50
Things to Consider:
 Is it morally wrong to shoot
coyotes when removing them?
Is there a better way to
remove coyotes from an
ecosystem?
 Should ranchers have a say in
the debate over the
reintroduction of coyotes in
certain areas? The removal?
(they are biased)
 Because coyotes pose such a
threat to the balance of
ecosystems when they are
overpopulated, would killing
coyotes for fur/meat be an
appropriate solution?
Sources
 http://texnat.tamu.edu/symposia/coyote/p2.htm
 http://www.city-data.com/forum/phoenix-area/129113coyote-controversy.html
 http://www.canids.org/species/Coyote.pdf