Viewed as a nuisance species, coyote hunting and trapping is legal year round in Ohio. Oftentimes hunting is legalized and allowed under the concept of population control. Primarily this takes place through weekend long wildlife killing contests (WKC), where hundreds of coyotes are inhumanely killed for cash prizes.

As of this article, there are only 10 states who have banned WKCs: Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Illinois, New Hampshire, and New Jersey introduced legislation this year to ban these contests. While coyotes are the most commonly targeted species, these contests impact more than just coyotes. WKCs also target bobcats, wolves, foxes, cougars, prairie dogs, squirrels, and rabbits in states across this nation. This is clearly less of a safety concern and more of a misguided decision in ecosystem management at best - a killing spree at worst.

Experts and scientists took notice in gray wolves pack numbers as they were noticeably and rapidly decreasing. They were added to the Endangered Species list in an effort to protect them and their numbers. WKCs tilt the scales of wildlife sustainability and ecosystems functionality. This article from ProjectCoyote.org discusses the direct impact wolves faced. With the changing of administrations in the early 2020’s, wolves were delisted from this list and Wisconsin killed an estimated 20% of their state’s wolf population in just 3 days. That’s 218 wolves or about 73 wolves a day. That’s not hunting or sporting and ultimately serves no larger purpose.

As an unsupervised, widely unregulated or unenforced regulation practice, WKCs not only threaten species viability, it directly impacts the ecosystem and has consequences that go against the stated need for these contests. Since banning WKCs, the ten listed states above have not had any outlandish reports or concerns related to wildlife. More commonly targeted are coyotes, and this amazing Fact Sheet from ProjectCoyote.org highlights the impact of these contests and the importance of the coyote population. Ultimately with coyotes WKCs are counterproductive.

As the famous Jurassic Park states “Nature will find a way.” For coyotes, hunting increases reproduction when their pack counts are low. From a post by Izzy Rescue and Rehab, they shared that the familiar howl of coyotes at night is a literal headcount. When they howl and interpret the response howls as small, they’ll instinctively look to increase breeding pairs, reproduce, and potentially have a biologically response of larger litters. WKCs targeting coyotes are not wildlife management - it is nothing more than a killing contest.

In 2024, Project Coyote launched the inaugural Coyote Awareness Week to raise awareness about the intense persecution and widespread misunderstanding coyotes face nationwide—and to promote compassionate coexistence. This year, during Coyote Awareness Week March 17-23, OAA:

Encourages Ohioans to take the “Coyote Pledge” to advocate for coyotes in their communities: (Coyote Awareness Week - Project Coyote),
Use OAA's action alert to speak out against wildlife killing contests (https://www.ohioanimaladvocates.org/action-alerts#state), and
Download the Coyote Awareness Week Toolkit and Spread Awareness – Find resources, social media graphics, and ways to take action.
Learn to coexist with coyotes by:

Keeping your pets indoors and supervise them when they're outside,
Bag and secure your trash,
Install noise alert devices on the property line, and
Check out this link from the Humane Society of the United States to find out more https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/coyote-hazing

Featuring daily coyote content on social media to educate the public about the intrinsic and ecological value of coyotes and to disseminate coexistence resources and information,
Sharing a digital toolkit to help individuals raise awareness throughout the week and beyond (toolkit forthcoming).

OAA and Project Coyote hope you’ll join us in celebrating coyotes – our collective efforts can help change hearts and minds about coyotes, and make the world a more compassionate place for our wild neighbors.