Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for
Date of this Version
March 1995
Abstract
In the early 1900s organized predator control was initiated to remove coyotes (Canis latrans) and wolves (C. lupus and C. rufus) from the sheep and goat producing areas of Texas. Operations were begun in the Edwards Plateau, the largest area of sheep concentration. By the 1920s, many of the inner Edwards Plateau counties were considered to be almost free of coyotes and wolves In the 1950s coyotes and wolves were extirpated from most of the Edwards Plateau After a coyote population irruption in the early 1960s, coyotes began to re-establish themselves on the periphery of the Plateau. This encroachment process has accelerated in the 1990s and thus continues to expose more sheep and goats to predation by coyotes.
Comments
Published in Coyotes in the Southwest: A Compendium of Our Knowledge. Symposium Proceedings, December 13–14, 1995, San Angelo, TX, edited by Dale Rollins, Calvin Richardson, Terry Blankenship, Kem Canon, and Scott Henke. Austin, Texas, 1996. Used by permission.