A series of three public hearings in January will take public input on the future of protection for the reintroduced red wolf and continuation of coyote hunting in the five-county area in northeastern North Carolina where the wolf was reintroduced.
The hearings will all be held in eastern North Carolina, but written comments can be made by Jan. 14 online at www.ncwildlife.org/proposedregulations.aspx.
The comment period comes following the conclusion of a lawsuit waged by multiple environmental groups against the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. The groups claimed that wreckless coyote hunting laws were jeopardizing endangered red wolves in eastern N.C. — the only wild population of red wolves on the planet.
Laws had allowed liberal coyote hunting in red wolf territory, including at night, exacerbating the risk that the wolves, which look similar to coyotes, would be shot mistakenly. Such accidental deaths had been documented. However, the Wildlife Commission said that the exploding coyote population was a nuisence that required all available tools to combat.
The lawsuit, brought by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the Animal Welfare Institute, ended in an out-of-court agreement that daytime coyote hunting will be allowed on private lands only. Further, hunters wanting to shoot coyotes must obtain a special permit and report their kill afterward. In the rest of the state, coyote hunters may hunt any time of the day with artificial lights, and no special permit or reporting of kills will be required.