The Effectiveness of Selective Removal of Breeding Coyotes in Reducing Sheep Predation

We evaluated the effect on sheep losses of selectively removing breeding coyotes (Canis latrans) from territories experiencing depredations. Breeding pairs of coyotes were the primary predators of sheep, and they killed sheep only within or on the periphery of their territories. Removal of either or both members of a breeding pair reduced or eliminated predation in that territory during the subsequent 3-month period. Killing of sheep by coyotes resumed sooner in territories that overlapped lambing pastures than in those that did not. For territories with access to lambs, the average time interval until killing of lambs resumed (43 days) approximated the time for a replacement pair of coyotes to become established. Removals of breeding coyotes during the nonlambing season did not reduce losses during the following lambing season. Although