SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah state program that pays a bounty for dead coyotes brought in about 1,000 more carcasses last year, despite criticism after the shooting death of a well-known wolf mistaken for a coyote, according to a Division of Wildlife Resources report.
Officials say the 16 percent increase is likely related to growth in the overall coyote population. Heavy summer rains meant their main prey, jackrabbits, were in steady supply, allowing more animals to survive and breed, said Leslie McFarlane, the state’s mammals program coordinator.
Wildlife advocates, though, point to research indicating that coyote populations compensate for hunting with larger litters, more surviving pups and the addition of solitary animals.
A total of 8,192 coyotes were turned in to state wildlife officials between July 2014 and June 2015, the report shows. The $50-per-coyote program paid out a total of $409,600 during that period.
The number of hunters participating dropped a bit this year, but the bounty numbers increased overall because individual hunters turned in more animals – nearly half of them brought in more than five coyotes.
The program came under scrutiny after a wolf protected under the Endangered Species Act was shot and killed when a hunter in southern Utah mistook her for a coyote. The long-ranging 3-year-old female, Echo, had captured the attention of wildlife advocates across the country because she was the first wolf seen near the Grand Canyon in seven decades.
