On April 7, 2015, MWC president John Glowa testified before the Maine Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee in opposition of L.D. 691-An Act to Allow Sunday Hunting for Coyotes in Northern Maine.  The committee disregarded our testimony that, in fact, Maine’s “coyotes” cannot legally be hunted or trapped because it is not a coyote, but is rather by statutory definition, a wolf hybrid.  There is no legal definition for “coyote” in Maine statutes.  The supporters of the legislation maligned Maine’s “coyotes” and provided no scientific evidence to support killing these animals seven days a week, instead of the six days a week currently allowed.  Our testimony is shown below.

Testimony in Opposition to L.D. 691-“An Act to Allow Sunday Hunting for Coyotes in Northern Maine”

Good afternoon.  My name is John M. Glowa, Sr..   I live in South China and am president and founder of The Maine Wolf Coalition, Inc., an organization dedicated to wolf recovery in Maine through research, education and protection.

Our organization opposes L.D. 691 for several reasons:

1. There is no statutory definition for “coyote”.  In fact, all so-called “coyotes” in Maine are by legal definition, “wolf hybrids” because all so-called “coyotes” in Maine have wolf genes.
2. The animal that is referred to as a “coyote”, because it is not legally defined and because it is not actually a coyote, cannot legally be hunted and trapped in Maine.
3. No less than eight wolves have been killed south of the St. Lawrence River since 1993, from Massachusetts in the south to New Brunswick in the north.  Two of these wolves were killed in Maine.
4. The greatest threat to wolf recovery in Maine and the rest of the northeast is the virtually unregulated killing of so-called “coyotes”.  The size of these coyote/wolf hybrids or coywolves overlaps with the gray wolf and the smaller eastern wolf found in southern Ontario and Quebec.
5. It can be virtually impossible to differentiate Maine’s so-called “coyotes” from wolves without DNA analyses.
6. There is no scientific evidence to warrant the killing of so-called “coyotes”.  There is ample scientific evidence that demonstrates the importance of predators to the ecosystem.
7. This bill is another attempt to open the door to Sunday hunting.  The sponsors of this bill are using the much maligned “coyote” as an excuse to open that door.

In closing, The Maine Wolf Coalition, Inc. urges the committee to oppose L.D. 691 and to see it for what it really is-simply an excuse for more unwarranted killing.

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