Project Coyote

✨ Learn how to Amplify Wild Voices & Embrace Animal Nature in our recent webinar—the recording is now available! ✨ We had inspiring conversations with Vanessa Chakour—author, nature advocate, rewilding facilitator, and Project Coyote Ambassador during our recent webinar! 🔗 You can catch the full recording here: https://lnkd.in/eiujs7z4 And don’t forget—this fall, Vanessa Chakour is launching a 'Writing For The Wild' workshop and lecture series! This immersive experience fosters healing through creativity and empowers you to craft compelling stories that advocate for our wild relatives. With 50% of proceeds benefiting Project Coyote, it's a meaningful way to support wild carnivores and thriving ecosystems. Project Coyote supporters can enjoy a 12% discount on *workshop* registration with code COMPASSIONFORCARNIVORES8. Don’t miss out!

Idaho's destructive wolf policies have led to a 13% decrease ⬇️ in the state's wolf population. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is introducing a new genetics-based statistical model to estimate the wolf population, which they claim is more reliable. Researchers believe this method provides accurate estimates by analyzing genetic and age data from killed wolves, rather than relying on camera capture methods. According to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, there were an estimated 1,150 wolves in Idaho during the summer of 2023, reflecting a 13% decline from the previous year. Over the past 12 months, 420 wolves were killed, primarily by hunters and trappers. These numbers align with the Department’s hostile 2023 plan to reduce the wolf population to 500. The state's preference for lethal control over more humane and effective non-lethal methods is both ethically problematic and ecologically harmful. This approach risks reducing the wolf population to a level that could once again endanger their survival in Idaho. Join the movement to #ProtectAmericasWolves! 🐺 Follow our partners Relist Wolves and sign up for our e-team to stay updated on future actions. #WolfWednesday #RelistWolves #ProtectAmericasWolves #Idaho #GrayWolves

🚫 FED WILDLIFE IS DEAD WILDLIFE! 🚫 Although feeding wild carnivores may seem like a kind gesture, it can have serious consequences. 🚫✋ Avoid leaving handouts. Wildlife, especially wild carnivores, that you feed today might be unfairly labeled as "pests" and killed tomorrow. Providing food can also congregate wildlife into larger groups than usual, leading to territorial conflicts, increased risk of accidents, and dangerous interactions with humans or domestic animals. Feeding also disrupts their natural behaviors, making them dependent on harmful human handouts and less capable of surviving on their own. 🚫🗑️ Ensure you're not accidentally feeding wildlife. Take extra precautions by securing your trash, feeding companion animals indoors, and keeping your yard clean and free of attractants like bird seed, dirty grills, or fallen fruit. If you truly care, don't feed wildlife. Protect their health, safety, and freedom by letting your wild neighbors stay wild.

Did you know that August is National Make-A-Will Month?  Though estate planning can be daunting, it’s a time when we can reflect on the future we’re shaping for the next generations on our shared planet. 🌎 Project Coyote’s work is only possible because people like you care deeply about protecting wild lives for their intrinsic value, fostering thriving ecosystems, and promoting compassionate coexistence in our multispecies communities.  This month, we’re excited to share our partnership with FreeWill to make it as easy as possible for you to write a will—for free! This online resource is a simple, but essential way to ensure your loved ones and the causes most dear to your heart are protected.  Please consider protecting wolves, bears, mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, and all wild carnivores in your future planning. In the wake of the Wyoming wolf torture incident, legalized killing of wild carnivores with snowmobiles throughout most of the Northern Rocky Mountains, and tax-dollar funded wildlife killing programs, our work to shield wild carnivores from unjust persecution is more important than ever. Get started today: https://lnkd.in/e8CDxPfz

Where'd you get those peepers? 👀 Almost all coyotes have striking golden-brown eyes, but not this rare blue-eyed beauty, shared with us by #CaptureCoexistence Contributor, Tara Johnson. Scientists believe this unique and uncommon eye color results from a genetic mutation, or may even indicate recent hybridization with domestic dogs in certain areas. In such cases, these animals may display other noticeable phenotypic changes—such as coat color, facial structure, and proportions. While blue eyes are common in domestic dogs, they can be a disadvantage in the wild, potentially disrupting a coyote's natural camouflage or increasing light sensitivity. However, the greatest threat to coyotes by far remains human activity, including unethical wildlife killing contests and lethal "management" policies that disregard scientific evidence and modern values. This glimpse into coyote genetics reminds us how wild nature continually surprises and inspires us. 📷 Tara Johnson, #CaptureCoexistence Contributor

How does that old saying go? Coyote see, coyote do? 🐺👀🐱 This is an interaction you don't see every day! These two species generally avoid each other, but competition or other scenarios can lead to the occasional encounter. While it is relatively rare, coyotes will sometimes hunt bobcats, particularly when resources are scarce or if a bobcat is young or otherwise vulnerable. However, it is more common for a coyote to scavenge a bobcat rather than actively pursue one. Coyotes are clever and adaptable, but bobcats have some tricks up their sleeves. Armed with stealth, expert knowledge of their territory, and the ultimate escape route—climbing trees—bobcats have plenty of ways to give coyotes the slip! 📹 Annica Kreuter

✨ You're invited to an upcoming conversation and Q&A with author, nature advocate, rewilding facilitator, and Project Coyote Ambassador, Vanessa Chakour! ✨ Vanessa and Project Coyote Founder & Executive Director Camilla Fox will be discussing: 🐾 Vanessa's new book, "Earthly Bodies: Embracing Animal Nature" 🐾 Her role as an Ambassador for our Artists for Wild Nature program 🐾 Wild Voices Collective—an initiative that helps artists advocate for wildlife 🐾 An upcoming “Writing For The Wild” workshop and lecture series this fall, with 50% of proceeds benefiting Project Coyote! Project Coyote supporters get a 12% discount on workshop registration with code COMPASSIONFORCARNIVORES8. Register today to save your spot! https://lnkd.in/eE9_8WCN

Personally, we're a 1.

There is nothing quite like observing wild coyotes, wolves, and bears in their natural habitats. Few people are lucky enough to experience these sights in-person. Thankfully, wildlife photographers and videographers will wait patiently for hours, days, or sometimes even weeks to capture these sentient beings on camera. Project Coyote is continually inspired by the dedication of our #CaptureCoexistence Contributors to showcasing the beauty of wild lives and sharing impactful stories and observations from the field. We spoke to Josh Shandera recently, a Contributor since the inception of our #CaptureCoexistence campaign, about his experiences documenting wildlife.  Josh’s passion for wild carnivores has led him to Yellowstone National Park countless times, as well as other areas of wild nature across the country, to observe and document gray wolves, red wolves, bears, coyotes, foxes, and numerous other species. Like our team members at Project Coyote, Josh is passionate about ending the unjust and unscientific persecution of wild carnivores by inspiring new audiences to care about these animals as individuals.  We hope you’ll enjoy hearing about Josh’s journey as a wildlife photographer and his captivating stories from the field. 🐺 Read it here: https://lnkd.in/e282tpf9 📷 Josh Shandera, #CaptureCoexistence Contributor

As private interests turn profits on public lands, wildlife and taxpayers pay the price. “Since the first European settlers set foot on this continent, they viewed predators as a threat to species humans hunt for game or raise for food,” says Camilla Fox of the California-based Project Coyote. “Public attitudes, science and ethics have evolved since then, but federal practices and policies haven’t kept up.” Don't miss this crucial discussion featuring Project Coyote Founder & Executive Director, Camilla H. Fox.