Its time to end coyote hunting everywhere, simply because hunters will use the same lame ass excuse…. “I thought it was a coyote” When in fact they knew full well it was a wolf! A “responsible hunter” would never make that mistake!!
Here’s the thing: it really doesn’t matter all that much whether the “thought it was a coyote” line is sincere or a ruse. Both could be corrected by ending what is, across the west, essentially unregulated hunting of coyotes. If the people who use the line are sincere, a ban would mean they wouldn’t be out there hunting coyotes. And if it’s a ruse, the absence of an easy legal “out” for killing a wolf might just keep some people from pulling that trigger.
There’s precedent of sorts. The U.S. Endangered Species Act provides for protecting animals that don’t belong to endangered species, but which resemble endangered species closely enough that it’s hard for either law enforcement or the public at large to distinguish between them. Examples of such animals given protection due to what the Endangered Species Act calls “similarity of appearance” include the American alligator, which was once listed as Endangered on its own. The alligator has recovered enough that it’s not longer in danger throughout its range, but it’s still on the list of Threatened Species due to its similarity to the American crocodile, which is still Threatened in Florida and Endangered everywhere else.
Is it Time to End Coyote Hunting in California? | Commentary | Rewild | KCET.
Coyote
