WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, April 9, 2009
Coyote Price Now Reaches $14,000 in Greenwood Village

Hazing Effort to Scare Coyotes Away is Working
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.- WildEarth Guardians and The Humane Society of the United States obtained invoices showing that the private shooter hired by Greenwood Village to shoot coyotes on sight in the city’s parks has charged nearly $14,000 in a six-week period. The shooter, Jay Stewart, reports killing one coyote, an adult female, in Westlands Park on February 19. While the groups have called for an end to the killing program because it is indiscriminate and cruel, they are now pointing out that it is wasteful government spending.

In news reports, Stewart has complained that hazing activities are scaring away coyotes, leaving fewer opportunities for him to kill the animals. The city has refused to conduct any hazing, preferring indiscriminate killing of coyotes. Yet, scientific experts say that hazing - scaring coyotes so that they are wary of humans - is one of the most effective ways to reduce conflicts.

“The city’s thirst for coyote blood will not make its pets or residents safer,” said Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. “On the other hand, our hazing effort is working. We’ve scared away every coyote we’ve encountered, which indicates the coyotes in Greenwood Village are not dangerous,” continued Rosmarino.

Greenwood Village officials claim that the one coyote Stewart reported killing was in response to a 14-year old boy that was reportedly attacked by a coyote. But that incident took place on December 31, nearly 2 months earlier. The attack itself has raised questions as police reports clearly state that the boy was left unharmed without even a scratch after the encounter. The boy’s mother did not report the incident until a week later and even then couldn’t wait at the police station long enough to file a report. Greenwood Village police failed to interview the boy until near 2 months after the incident. Greenwood Village’s coyote killing program continues despite no further incidents involving coyotes and people for over 3 months.

The generous Greenwood Village contract enriching one private individual comes during a national recession. The number of unemployed persons rose during March by 694,000, reaching 13.2 million unemployed people nation-wide. The groups regard the city’s wasteful spending as an insult to the millions of Americans being thrown out of work.

Other municipalities in the Denver metropolitan area are leading the way in developing more thoughtful coyote plans. Nearby Centennial has formed a regional stakeholders group to find community solutions to urban coyote conflicts with an emphasis on community education and successful coexistence.  Greenwood Village, originally involved in the group, recently dropped out of the regional effort.

“Surrounding jurisdictions have extensive outreach, education and hazing programs and haven’t needed to go so far as to hire a contract killer to stalk wildlife in public parks,” said Holly Tarry, Colorado director for The Humane Society of the United States, “but Greenwood Village city council refuses to base their program in science. Their legacy will be that they wasted thousands of dollars trying to eradicate coyotes which has proven time and time again to make coyote conflicts worse instead of better.”

Facts

Greenwood Village has hired a private contractor to kill coyotes in several public parks and nature preserves. Invoices indicate that Stewart has billed the city $13,650 over six weeks of billing.

The contract allows Stewart to kill any coyote, including pups, without evidence that the animal has displayed aggressive behavior toward people or pets. Stewart writes on his invoices that he is actively searching for dens.

The shooter has reportedly killed one coyote in Greenwood Village.

Greenwood Village was denied permission to use leghold traps by the state, but Stewart has set up box traps to catch coyotes adjacent to one of the city’s parks (Greenwood Gulch).

Centennial convened a regional stakeholders group on January 7 and municipalities throughout the south Denver suburbs are developing coyote policies as part of that process.

For more information, including copies of the invoices and the shooter’s contract, contact nrosmarino@wildearthguardians.org or htarry@humanesociety.org.