Shawnee Group Sierra Club to host presentation from the Coyote Project

CARBONDALE — Shawnee Group Sierra Club will host a meeting at 7 p.m. April 11 in Carbondale Township meeting room to hear a presentation called “Campaign to Stop Wildlife Killing Contests in Illinois” from representatives from the Coyote Project.

Speakers will explain how wildlife killing contests differ from wild game hunting and why Illinois should join 10 other U.S. states that have banned the contests offering prizes to contestants that have killed the highest number of coyotes or other target animals, including racoons and foxes. The presenters are Jane McBride, Illinois Representative for the Coyote Project and an attorney retired recently from the Environmental Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, and Francisco J. Santiago-Avila, science and ethics manager for the Coyote Project and researcher conducting studies as part of the Coyote Project’s Carnivore Coexistence Lab.