Coyote cull begins in Stanley Park as early as Tuesday night, opposition grows

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — B.C.’s Ministry of Forests says coyotes in Stanley Park could be trapped and killed, starting as early as Tuesday night.

It comes after the province announced last week that non-lethal options, such as removing the animals from the park, could not be used due to the number and severity of the attacks. The park remains closed between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. in an effort to minimize encounters between the animals and humans.

Since last year, 45 people have been attacked in the park, five of the attacks were on children.

“To protect the public from further coyote attacks, we will be proceeding with active trapping as soon as possible,” the Ministry said in a statement.

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The animals will be trapped by licenced and trained professional trappers, permitted under the Wildlife Act. It’s expected to take two weeks and up to 35 coyotes could be killed.

“These actions are essential to ‘reset’ the park environment for sustainable coexistence with the coyotes,” the Ministry explained. Adding, “the goal of all parties moving forward is to manage the coyote population so that lethal means are not required.”

From BC gov't re: coyotes in Stanley Park.

*Cull could begin tonight
*Animals to be trapped/"humanely euthanized"
*Process will take about 2 weeks
*Relocation isn't an option
*Once the risk is gone, a long-term safety plan will be created for SP
*45 attacks so far, five on kids

— Sonia Aslam (@SoniaSAslam) September 7, 2021

“Once the immediate risk to the public is resolved we will work to support the Vancouver Park Board in development of a long-term plan to support safety with wildlife in the park.” the Ministry said.

Opposition to cull growing 

Many animal rights groups have spoken out about the decision to euthanize some of the population, as well as B.C. musician Bryan Adams, who took to social media to criticize the cull.

Culling of coyotes in Stanley Park? Consider the knock on effect by removing a species from its natural habitat. Look what happened when they wiped out the wolves in Yellowstone. They had to rewild them back to balance the ecosystem. #banthecull #coyotes #StanleyPark #Vancouver

— Bryan Adams (@bryanadams) September 5, 2021

A petition calling for the province to reconsider was created in recent weeks by a UBC applied animal biology student and it has already surpassed more than 19,000 signatures.

A vigil will be held on Sept. 15  from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Vancouver Park Board headquarters.

Organizer Sarah Blyth, a former park board chair, says she remains hopeful the cull will be called off before the vigil even gets started.

“I mean really, I hope that they decide that they’re not going to do this, that it’s the wrong idea. I’d like to think that we could be celebrating them changing their minds,” she says, characterizing the cull as a knee jerk solution.

“I’m hoping for people to come to their senses and try again and give them another chance, because trapping them is painful, it’s terrible, and we can do better in Vancouver.”

Vigil for Stanley Park Coyotes is on Weds 15 from 10-2pm at 2099 Beach Ave @ParkBoard HQ Everyone welcome @animallawcanada @FurBearers @CoyoteWatchCAN @StanleyParkEco @StanleyParkGoat pic.twitter.com/zp2BpS65Sv

— Sarah Blyth – Gerszak (@sarahblyth) September 6, 2021

And Blyth says people opposed to the cull are also not convinced it’s along-term solution.

“I think we also need to close down parts of the park until we’ve really figured out a solution. Experts are saying this isn’t a solution, that coyotes will just come back if we don’t change the way we’re doing things, or find out enough about the reasons why they’re doing what they’re doing. We’re going to be back at square one,” she says.

“I think that we need to give them the time that’s necessary to do what’s right. I think really people need to respect what the rules are and not go into the park for the periods of time when they’re told not to.”

Ultimately, Blyth thinks the move is being done too hastily, and is not prioritizing animal welfare.

“It’s a huge failure on the part of humans in such a big way. It’s just being done to make way for people. It’s about money and other things like that,” she says.

“I think one of the biggest things is that we really need to understand that we live amongst wildlife. That’s what makes B.C. so wonderful and such a great place because we do learn to live among the wildlife. I think we’ve made a big mistake here.”

With files from Sonia Aslam and Robyn Crawford