Nova Scotia’s $20 per pelt bounty on coyotes will end with this year’s trapping season on March 31, the Natural Resources Department announced Thursday.
But the data has to be analyzed before officials can say whether the incentive was successful in reducing coyote numbers.
Mike Boudreau, a wildlife biologist hired to monitor human-wildlife conflict, said figures could be available by mid-April.
“The numbers aren’t in. It’s too early. But anecdotally, in the first part of January, we saw a 50 per cent increase (in pelts shipped to market) in the same time period as last year,” said Boudreau. “Initially it seems like there’s a little increase.”
A fatal attack on a young woman in Cape Breton in October 2009 and an increase in coyote sightings in urban areas has led to safety concerns.
Based on earlier studies, Boudreau said biologists estimate there are anywhere from 8,000 to 12,000 coyotes in the province.
“That’s based on home-range size information that we acquired back in the early ’90s when we did work on coyotes.”
Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker said the government had met its commitment to ensuring safety with a four-step plan outlined last fall.
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