California Agriculture

Coyote predation on the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center's research sheep has increased substantially during the last several decades, as it did for commercial sheep producers in the North Coast region. The center has evaluated a variety of lethal and nonlethal predator-control methods in an effort to find a strategy that is cost effective and practical for other producers. The most promising strategy tested was selective removal of only sheep-killing coyotes by use of the livestock protection collar, a tool that was banned in California by Proposition 4, a November 1998 ballot initiative.