Coyotes spared bounty program

A Saskatchewan program that had been paying a bounty on coyotes, a nuisance animal for livestock producers, will not be renewed.

Bob Bjornerud, Saskatchewan's agriculture minister said Tuesday that coyotes preying on livestock has not been too bad this year.

"I think two years ago we just felt we had to do something 'cause there was so many of them out there in the province," Bjornerud said. "Safety was starting to be a concern, whether it's small children out there in farm yards or whether it's farm animals out there."

Bjornerud noted the previous program, which provided $20 per coyote, eliminated more than 70,000 animals.

While there was at least one rural municipality asking for the bounty program, Bjornerud said it was not necessary.

"Overall I don't think our numbers are anywhere near where we were two years ago," he said. "At least the calls and concerns out there that we're getting aren't as great as they were then."