Federal & State Laws

• Ohio Revised Code Section 935, Possession of Wild Animals and Snakes
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources hunting and trapping regulations

Legislation

• H.R. 263, The Big Cat Public Safety Act, was signed by President Biden, after passing the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority in July, and passing the United States Senate 100-0 this fall.  This law will end the exploitation of tiger cubs in photo opportunities, and require private owners to register the animal(s) they already have, while forbidding them from breeding those animals or acquiring more.  
• Help stop wildlife-killing contests in Ohio, which are primitive and barbaric events, resulting in the senseless deaths of tens of thousands of wild animals. In Ohio, coyotes are targeted because the Ohio Division of Wildlife allows an open season on hunting them. Speak out for these innocent animals and demand a ban on wildlife killing contests.

Public Meetings/Hearings

• Ohio Wildlife Council monthly meetings

Resource Materials

• America’s Wildlife Values Report describes state by state how U.S. residents think about wildlife
• “Humane Wildlife Capture & Handling: Advanced Techniques for Success” focused on expanding wildlife live-capture and handling protocols
• The Justice Clearinghouse has numerous webinars available including: “Urban Wildlife 101” focused on understanding why and how wild animals thrive in urbanized areas in order to resolve conflicts between humans and wildlife 
• Ohio Wildlife Center has an excellent series of pages devoted to various native wildlife including topics such as how to coexist, FAQs, and more resources
• List of Ohio wildlife rehabilitation centers
• Project Coyote’s documentary trailer, “Killing Games–Wildlife in the Crosshairs”
• SCRAM! solves wildlife conflict problems (geese, opossum, raccoon, etc.) humanely and ethically (serving Central OH)
• The Dodo video, Guys Free Cougar From Foot Trap, 04/29/2018
• Urban Coyote Research Project, Professor Gehrt, The Ohio State University
• Wolf Creek Habitat & Rescue, for wolves, Brookville IN

News Media

• HSUS, 6/21/2023, New York legislature passes bill to end wildlife killing contests, and is set become the ninth state to stop the senseless slaughter of wildlife. Read the article here.
• HSUS, 3/2023, an undercover investigation into a wildlife killing contest in Illinoisrevealed that 405 coyotes from multiple states were killed for the chance at a cash prize. The bodies were piled up, dragged and hung in the presence of children. Read the article here.
• On 4/5/22, on the start of National Wildlife Week, more than 15 members of Congress introduced legislation that would prohibit organizing, sponsoring, conducting, or participating in wildlife killing contests on more than 500 million acres of U.S. public lands. The Prohibit Wildlife Killing Contests Act of 2022, would require the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service to enact regulations banning wildlife killing contests within a year. Eight states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington — have already outlawed these events within their borders.
• PR Newswire, 3/22/2022, “New Undercover Investigation Reveals the Shocking Brutality of Trapping Animals for fur and Recreation in the United States”
• Columbus Dispatch, 8/18/2021, “The Conservation Game documentary ties Columbus Zoo, Jack Hanna to unchecked big cat trade”
• Sentient Media, 8/16/2021, “Wildlife Killing Contests: The Pastime Putting America’s Coyotes at Risk”
• Lansing State Journal, 04/27/2020, “Police: Coyote hunter shoots 21-year-old in Williamston after mistaking him for animal,” Kara Berg
• Project Coyote media release, 02/20/2020, about their documentary on the “shadowy world of wildlife killing contests”
• WBS Radio 95.5, 02/18/2020, “Friendly black coyote captured in East Cobb,” Sandra Parrish
• Fox43, 02/09/2020, “Family dog shot and killed by member of nearby rifle range,” because he mistook it for a coyote, Harri Leigh
• The Economist, 01/16/2020, “Unpacking the rise of urban coyotes”
• Ohio Department of Agriculture Press Release, 12/17/2019, “21 Charges Filed in Serval Cat Case”
• WBNS 10TV, updated 10/22/2019, “Serval cat shot and killed in Fairfield County after attacking a dog”
• NBC4i, updated 10/16/2019, “Search warrant executed at Ezekiel Elliott’s father’s home after serval cat shot, killed”
• ABC 6 On Your Side, 10/16/2019, “Neighbors believe Ezekiel Elliot’s dad owns an illegal serval cat, more exotic animals”
• Lancaster Eagle Gazette, updated 10/14/2019, “Deputy shoots serval cat after it attacked a dog and threatened the deputy”
• NBC4i, updated 10/14/2019, “Officials looking for owner of serval cat shot, killed over weekend”
• KTLA Morning News, updated 09/04/2019, “Gov. Newsom Signs Law Making California the 1st State to Ban Commercial Fur Trapping,” Associated Press
• Washington Post article, 06/03/2019,“The Relentless Slaughter of Wolves Paved the Way for a Predator that Refused to Die,” Darryl Fears
• Journal of Wildlife Management article, 03/21/2019, “Coyotes Don’t Reduce Deer Populations,” Dana Kobilinsky
• KRQE, Albuquerque NM, 12/16/2018, “Dog Loses Leg after Caught in Trap, Prompting Renewed Calls to Ban Trapping”
• Mountain Journal article, 12/12/2018, “A Death of Ethics: Is Hunting Destroying Itself?” Todd Wilkinson
• Dayton Daily News, 10/13/2017, “Terrifying incident in 2011 caused state to toughen restrictions”
• Dayton Daily News, 10/13/2017 “6 years after bears and tigers were set loose in Ohio: what’s changed?”
• ABC 6 On Your Side, 10/17/2016, “Q&A: What’s changed since exotic animals let loose in Ohio”
• Columbus Monthly, updated 01/18/2016, “Animal House: Reynoldsburg’s holding facility for exotic animals” 

Literature & Toolkits

• TheLantern.com, 04/13/2020, “Ohio’s gruesome ‘Tiger King’ connection,” Rishi Rajagopalan
• Cincinnati.com, 01/06/2020, “Three Coyote carcasses skinned and dropped off near Mt. Airy Forest”
• People.com, 10/17/2019, “Ezekiel Elliott’s father under investigation for loose African cat shot dead by police”
• Coexisting with Coyotes Fact Sheet, City of Lakewood OH
• “Intolerable Cruelty: The Truth Behind Killing Neck Snares and Strychnine,” Gilbert Prouix, PhD; Alpha Wildlife Publishing, 2018
• Ohio Department of Agriculture, 04/10/2018, “Dangerous Wild Animals”
• Wyoming Untrapped, 07/09/2017, “Bobcat Economic Value Study”
• National Coalition to End Wildlife Killing Contests Fact Sheet
• Project Coyote brochure, 10/2015, “Coexisting with Coyotes”
• Esquire.com, 02/06/2012, “Animals: The Horrific True Story of the Zanesville Zoo Massacre”
• GQ.com, 02/06/2012, “18 tigers, 17 lions, 8 bears, 3 cougars, 2 wolves, 1 baboon, 1 macaque, and 1 man dead in Ohio”
• Project Coyote chart, “Coyote in Comparison to Pets & Foxes”
• “Why Killing Coyotes Doesn’t Work,” Humane Society of the United States

Websites

• America’s Wildlife Values
• Animal Diversity Web, “Leptailurus serval”
• Atlanta Coyote Project
• Fur Free Alliance
• National Coalition to End Wildlife Killing Contests
• Ohio Wildlife Center
• Ohio Wildlife Council
• Project Coyote
• Urban Coyote Initiative