BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is moving forward with a proposal to ban the rehabilitation of coyotes, a move that has wildlife experts and rehabilitators concerned.

Tisha Raiford, a state-certified wildlife rehabilitator, currently cares for a variety of animals, including squirrels, possums, foxes, and two orphaned coyote pups. She says rehabilitating the animals is critical to their survival.

“I think they deserve care, the same way these other species deserve care,” Raiford said. “We nurse them back to health. If they're injured, we get veterinarian care for them and care for them until they're healed and old enough and ready to be released.”

Raiford says she only receives a handful of coyotes each year and that their rehabilitation has minimal impact on farms or ranches.

“We only get about five to six coyotes in a year or less, and I just feel it’s not any different than if we get an injured raccoon,” she said. “The problem is the ranchers and the farmers are complaining because they're a nuisance, but the few that are going to come into care, that’s not going to affect what happens on a farm, on a ranch.”

Mark Mitchell with the LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine says rehabilitating coyotes benefits the environment and helps maintain balanced ecosystems.

“Rehabilitation has shown that when we get these animals back out in a protected environment, they can survive and thrive,” Mitchell said. “So the coyote plays a very important role. Many wildlife species actually are some of the best unpaid help that we as humans have.”

He also says he sees where the argument comes from.

“Coyotes, because they're so adaptable, they are capable of going after livestock, poultry, and then in urbanized areas, domestic cats and dogs, and so that's where the conundrum comes. Realistically, what I would like to see is us being able to work with these animals, rehabilitate them, follow them, learn more about how they're adapting, what roles they're playing, and educate the public so that the public is also then protected against some of those adverse events.”

Raiford says when she has the coyotes, she takes extra precautions to make sure they can be properly released. 

“We don't want any of the wildlife that's in rehab to view humans as friendly. So I'm very cautious with who gets to go around the animals. Usually, it is just me and the treating veterinarian. Occasionally, it would be another licensed rehabilitator, but specifically coyotes, because they will form a bond with someone very easily, and we don't want that to happen,” Raiford said. 

The LDWF proposal has not yet been finalized. A public comment period is currently open before the commission makes a final decision.