Southeast Oregon Plans a Coyote Killing Derby this Weekend
Beginning this weekend, hunters in southeast Oregon will host a killing derby, where “as many coyotes as possible” will be killed for prizes such as rifles, binoculars and scopes.
According to a 13 January Big Game Hunt notice, the derby will run from 16 January through the 17th throughout Lake, Malheur, Harney, and Klamath counties. The event will be headquartered in Silver Lake, Oregon, where the final winners will be determined.
For a simple fee of $50.00, two-person teams will be permitted to kill as many coyotes as humanly possible for these prizes. Big Game Hunt will determine the winners by the number of severed ears each hunter presents.
Friends of Animals’ president Priscilla Feral urges the public to contact the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to object to the killing contest, and to publicly state that they do not condone, support, or sponsor hunts that molest coyotes, and patronize hunters to revive an ailing hunting industry.
“That a state government agency would foster such a puerile, violent form of entertainment is morally unacceptable, and the logic behind it is nonsense. No one has undertaken a scientific study on the effects of the random killing of coyotes. In fact, as coyotes flee human threat, they regroup and reproduce, without the natural selection and competition of a large community of coyotes.”
Oregon is appeasing hunters in the state, who make up only 6 percent of the residents who are licensed.
Feral added, “Moreover, coyotes have been an important selective factor which have helped the deer and elk to evolve, and maintain them as the alert, robust and hardy animals that they are. Perhaps after removing a large number of coyotes, the wildlife agency will then be announcing that there are too many deer and elk - and offer another opportunity for hunters to renew their hunting licenses, with revenues channeled to the wildlife agency.”
Contact:
Commission and ODFW
Phone: (503) 947-6000
Toll Free: (800) 720-ODFW
TTY: (503) 947-6339
Email Commission
Email ODFW
Note: Talking points and more information may be obtained through Predator Defense.
Post your comment
Comment Guidelines: We welcome your expressions of opinion on this subject. Please avoid false commentary about individuals or groups. Facts must be verified by the person posting. Off-topic comments, and comments inappropriate for a readership of all ages, may be deleted. E-mail addresses will never be published. Only comments with valid e-mail address will be published.
7 Comments
On January 15, 2010, Elle Simpson wrote:
This is a disgusting disgrace done out of a warped sense of competition and greed and should be stopped. Coyotes have every right to be here on this earth as we do. We have screwed up the ecosystem enough as it is.
On January 15, 2010, Katherine Lopez wrote:
This IS violence. It is NOT entertainment nor sport, it is what it is; Murder. There is no logic behind and it is utter nonsense. PUT AN END to this.
On January 15, 2010, tim haubry wrote:
Thank you Friends of Animals for your hard work and dedication to protecting animals. This situation with the coyote is sad and needs to be fought. Thank you for providing contact information so that we can voice our concerns.
On January 15, 2010, arhoads wrote:
The derby begins tomorrow, so please call the ODFW and your local newspapers right away. Also, kindly spread the word through Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
Let’s use our voices to stop this cruel hunt from going forward.
On January 16, 2010, Anthony wrote:
Murder, bloody murder… This is a disgrace.
On January 18, 2010, Sam Blake wrote:
There is nothing wrong with killing animals it is the pure fact that over population is a problem.
FoA comments:
There is certainly something very wrong with human interference in the balance of nature. It’s a tragedy repeated over and over again and must be stopped.
On January 27, 2010, Matthew McLaughlin wrote:
There is something wrong with killing animals. The killing of an animal can only be justified under extraordinary circumstances (e.g. in self-defense).
Sam mentions that “over population is a problem.” This statement begs the question, how many coyotes are too many? In the case of Oregon, I believe the declaration that there are too many coyotes is more a reflection of communities intolerance of coyotes than overpopulation.
The coyote “derby” (it’s more appropriate to refer to this activity by what it actually is, a kill) is a fundraiser, in honor of a person who died of cancer (http://bit.ly/88YrHA). It’s unclear to me from reports about the coyote kill if the kill is meant to raise funds for cancer. If so, there are certainly many ways in which to raise money for cancer awareness, treatment or research that do not include slaughtering coyotes, such as community walks/runs or coin drops. I’m sure that many more fundraising ideas could be thought of.
Coyotes are hunted primarily because they prey upon animals that human exploit for food. This is a false dilemma. In order to resolve the conflict between humans and coyotes, the answer is simple: stop exploiting cows, sheep, chickens and other animals for food. In the meantime, the remaining animals can be protected from the coyotes through using fences and electronics guards.
Coyotes plan an important role in the ecosystem. As versatile predators, they check the populations of animals such as voles, prairies dogs and other rodents. If a significant portion of the coyote population is removed, there can be many unintended conseqeunces to the area’s ecosystem.