The program is conducted by a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture known as Wildlife Services. In 1996 Wildlife Services agents killed a total of 82,261 coyotes, almost all of them in the 17 states that constitute the American West, where both coyote and sheep populations are concentrated. Eight thousand were captured using steel-jaw leghold traps. One thousand six hundred were killed in their dens, either by digging them out and shooting them or by gassing them. Between killing contests, Wildlife Services actions, and state, local, and private agencies, it is estimated that 400,000 coyotes are killed each year.
Coyotes are the most maligned mammal in the United States.
The North American Coyote. When killing a certain species becomes a matter of human policy and concerted effort, the fight is almost always one-sided. Coyotes pose a different challenge altogether. Despite almost a century of uninterrupted killing, despite increasingly sophisticated hunting methods, despite hundreds of millions of government dollars devoted to coyote removal, today more coyotes are living in more places than ever before. And coyotes are spreading not just in ranching country but in metropolises nationwide, from the suburbs of Los Angeles to the streets of New York City.