For the last decade, biologist Alan Clark has watched
the number of endangered Columbian white-tailed deer decline at a
national wildlife refuge dedicated to protecting them. Now, with
only 60 deer surviving on a 2,000-acre section of the southwestern
Washington refuge – half the number there should be – Clark says
the situation is critical. He’s come up with a controversial,
temporary solution: kill some coyotes on the Julia Butler Hansen
Refuge.
Clark says the coyotes are the number one
cause of death for white-tailed fawns. If he can suppress the
coyote population over the next three years, Clark thinks the deer
survival rates will soar, boosting the population back to normal
levels. Today, the endangered white-tailed deer survive only in
pockets of southwestern Washington and
Oregon.
The plan has its detractors. Brooks Fahy
of the Predator Defense Institute calls the plan a “typical
knee-jerk reaction to a complex problem.” He blames weather and
inbreeding for the population dip and suggests relocating
white-tailed deer from another, healthier population. “Killing
coyotes is nothing more than a Band-Aid effect,” says Fahy. “It is
not solving the problem.”
“It’s not a natural
situation,” Clark admits. “We don’t want to kill coyotes, either,
but we’re responsible for protecting the deer.”
A decision should be made soon, says refuge
manager James Hidy, since the trapping should be done before the
coyotes and the does start giving birth this spring.
*Sarah Dry
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Coyotes could get culled.
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