HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's decision to offer trappers a $20 bounty to reduce the coyote population is attracting more criticism.
Environmentalist Bridget Curran is planning to lead a protest at the legislature today, saying the province has "declared war on wildlife in this province."
Coyote encounters in Nova Scotia became a hot-button issue last October when Toronto singer Taylor Mitchell was mauled to death while hiking alone in Cape Breton.
Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell says he wouldn't mind if trappers killed half of the province's estimated 8,000 coyotes by next spring.
Curran says public education and other non-lethal measures would make more sense because scientific studies have shown that bounties simply don't work.
The bounty, to be offered when trapping season starts in October, was introduced last month along with a provincewide education program.
