coyotes

The Olympics Will Make Millions Marketing cute Little Copper, the Coyote. Copper is one of three animal mascots of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. For $2,000 your child can have a 2-hour visit with Copper.

At The Same Time, Utah State Legislators Will Reward Anyone Who Kills a Coyote. Bring in a pair of coyote ears and you'll get $20 paid for by the taxpayers of Utah. $100,000 available!

If kids visit the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee (SLOC)'s
website (www.saltlake2002.com), they can get to know Copper the Coyote, one of the official mascots of the 2002 Winter Games. An entire page is dedicated to him and his "coyote's charisma" that "makes him the media darling of the mascot trio." The same page also provides a bit of history
on the coyote, including "Like many domestic dogs, coyotes are intelligent and playful".

What the page fails to mention is that 9 of Utah's 29 counties are using county taxes to pay out bounties for coyotes: bring in a pair of coyote ears, get $20! The state matches the county payments through a $100,000 annual fund specifically designated for predator control operations. In addition, coyotes are slaughtered in state-supported "contest hunts" that offer cash and prizes to hunters who bring in the most coyote tails or ears. Such wanton killing teaches people including children to disrespect wildlife and, by extension, domestic animals and
ultimately humans.

Behind the wanton slaughter of coyotes are agricultural interests and "sportsmen's" groups who view coyotes as a threat to livestock and competition for hunted game species such as mule deer and elk. However, scientific research has shown that bounties and contest hunts are ineffective for these purposes and do not result in an overall decrease in coyote populations. In fact, experts from both the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Wildlife Services say the "indiscriminate killing of coyotes do little to prevent damage to domestic livestock or to increase mule-deer members."

You can help:

Tell Mitt Romney of the SLOC and Sandra Baldwin President of the U.S.Olympic Committee that we must show respect for the Olympic mascot and stop coyote bounties and contest hunts. Request that they publicly urge the Governor to put an end to this needless slaughter and cruel waste of taxpayers' money. Let them know you won't attend the 2002 Games while they profit off of Olympic merchandise depicting a coyote, yet won't raise their voice to help the thousands of wild coyotes living in Utah.

Mitt Romney, President
Salt Lake Organizing Committee
299 South Main Street
Suite 1300
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Phone: 801-212-2002
Fax: 801-364-7644
email: [email protected]

Sandra Baldwin, President
U.S. Olympic Committee
One Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
Phone: 719-578-4529
Fax: 602-840-4438
email: [email protected]

Tell Governor Leavitt that he can't have it both ways! Celebrating Utah's wonderful wildlife through the 2002 Games and Copper the coyote on one hand, while allowing the cruel slaughter of thousands of coyotes on the other is hypocritical at best. Urge him to put an immediate end to this needless slaughter and cruel waste of taxpayers' money. Remind him that even his own experts at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Wildlife Services have publicly condemned the practice of contest and bounty hunts -- it's time he did the same. Let Governor Leavitt know that you won't be spending any of your tourist dollars in Utah until he ends this bloodthirsty practice.

Governor Mike Leavitt
210 State Capitol
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
Phone: 801-538-1000
Fax: 801-538-1528
email: [email protected]

For more information, contact API at 916-447-3085 or the Utah Environmental Congress at 801-466-4055.