By Diana Lejins, Contributing Columnist
Social media outlets roared with outrage, after an American dentist killed Cecil, an iconic lion in Zimbabwe.
Walter Palmer paid $55,000 to guides, who lured Cecil out of his protective environment. This allowed the hunter to unlawfully trophy hunt and destroy this magnificent creature. On the whole, Americans understood the travesty of this egregious event.
Ironically, thousands of miles away from Africa, in Long Beach, citizens have lured coyotes to their residential areas with food, water, unsupervised pets and the promise of more to come.
Now, because of a few isolated incidents, several groups of residents are up in arms and want to kill all of the coyotes. Extremely troublesome and alarming remarks have been made on Facebook and Nextdoor websites about people wanting to take matters into their own hands with crossbows, spear guns and electrical devices.
To further put things into perspective, an estimated 4.7 million dog bites occur in the United States each year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 5,700 letter carriers were victims of dog attacks in 2014 across the United States. According to Long Beach Animal Care Services, about 500 dog bites were reported in 2014 citywide. Nationwide, 42 fatalities were reported in 2014.
And, according to USA Today, outdoor cats kill as many as 3.7 billion birds per year in the continental United States. Should people fearful of dog bites or those who are avian devotees have a right to demand that dogs and cats be “mitigated?”
While there have been a few coyote snipes on pets (mostly unsupervised and outside), there have been zero attacks on humans and none on leashed pets in Long Beach. Experts in the field have explained that it is usually the scavenger coyotes, who are less canny and aggressive, that are trapped and killed. This leaves the more clever ones to propagate. Coyotes also provide invaluable services to the environment such as cleaning up “road kill,” preying on the over 1,500 species of harmful rodents (including gophers), and keeping other “pesky” wildlife and vermin in balance.
District 5 Councilwoman Stacy Mungo originally catered to the trap-and-kill groups with a proposal to create a “mitigation committee” that would have led to trapping and euthanizing the coyotes. However, at the Aug. 11 Long Beach City Council meeting, she did a 180-degree turn and agendized a proposal allowing the city staff to follow-up with an organized, more humane management plan. Dozens of citizens lined up to speak to the issue, and about two-thirds were pro coyote. The council passed the item unanimously.
Long Beach staff favors a more educational approach. The current plan includes educating the public about coexisting with coyotes, enforcing laws prohibiting feeding of wildlife and addressing public safety. This will be reviewed and adjusted to keep pace with any changing circumstances.
Residents need to stop their “bad behaviors,” and adhere to measures recommended by California Department of Fish and Wildlife authorities. These include not making food and water available, keeping pets protected and out of harm’s way, and taking other measures that can be found on the Animal Care Services and the Department of Fish and Wildlife Department websites. It is important to note that hunting is illegal within Long Beach city limits.
Mahatma Ghandi once said, “The greatness of a nation… can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
We must heed these prophetic words. Otherwise, what makes us any different than the likes of Walter Palmer?
Diana Lejins is a journalist and photographer focusing on civil rights, animal welfare, environmental and disability issues.