BC’s Ministry of Forests says coyotes in Stanley Park could be destroyed this week, after saying non-lethal options such as removing them from the area are no longer available..Over the past year, more than 40 people have been attacked in and around the park, five of whom were children..Several coyotes have been euthanized by conservation officers, and now contractors will come in to trap and kill up to 35 more between the hours of 7 p.m. and 9 a.m..“In the wake of the cull, coyotes will re-populate the park over time,” writes Tricia Collingham, executive director of Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES)..“SPES, the Vancouver Park Board, Conservation Officer Service, and coyote experts are making solid strides to prevent future coyote populations from succumbing to habituation.”.Due to their habituation, the coyotes cannot be relocated or rehabilitated according to the SPES and the BC Ministry of Forests..A petition to stop the cull has been signed by over 20,000 people as of publication, and it argues that culling the coyotes won’t solve the issue in the long run..“Culling predators has been proven time and time again to be an ineffective solution,” writes the petition..“This is especially true in the case of coyotes because they are extremely adaptable to changes and in response to a lowered population.”.Reid Small is a BC correspondent for the Western Standard.,rsmall@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/reidsmall
