The Stanley Park Ecology Society, who are responsible for the highly successful Co-existing With Coyotes program in the area, is warning visitors to stop feeding a coyote that they say is becoming too comfortable with people.
Dan Straker, the program co-ordinator and a friend of APFA, spoke to the CBC about the realities of visitors feeding a coyote and pulled no punches.
"You are training an animal to stop hunting for its own food, which is actually the more nutritious food. You are making them addicted to a food that they start to rely on. When they get grumpy and don't get that food they can become aggressive towards people."
"People really need to start thinking of it as animal abuse when they see someone feeding because it is essentially animal abuse. You are basically causing that animal to be destroyed by government because of the aggressive actions it might take."
In short, don’t feed the coyotes – or any wildlife. You’re not doing them any favours and it will, in the long-run, be worse for them. Let wildlife be wild.
Photo by Tracy Riddell
