Coyotes are intelligent, social animals that play a critical role in healthy ecosystems. Yet in Nevada, they’re being slaughtered in gruesome competitions where prizes are handed out for killing the most animals. These events are not only inhumane but fly in the face of ethical wildlife management.

Now, the Nevada Department of Wildlife Commission has taken a deeply troubling step. Instead of banning these coyote killing contests, it voted to regulate them—giving official recognition to a practice that many Nevadans find cruel and unnecessary. Under the new rule, these contests would be allowed from September through March, as long as participants have a hunting or trapping license. This isn’t reform. It’s a green light.

Wildlife conservation experts, animal advocates, and even some sportsmen agree that these contests are bad policy. They erode public trust in wildlife agencies and violate core principles of ethical hunting. Piling up bodies for bragging rights and social media photos is not conservation. It’s blood sport.

Ten other states have already taken action to ban wildlife killing contests. Colorado and Washington tried regulating them, then realized the harm and moved to outlaw them altogether. Nevada should follow their lead, not ignore their lessons.

We are calling on the Nevada Legislative Commission and state lawmakers to reject any policy that legitimizes killing contests and instead pass a full ban on these events statewide. Wildlife belongs to all of us, and it must be treated with respect and managed responsibly.

This is not about politics. It’s about decency, science, and the kind of Nevada we want to live in. Most people in this state believe animals should not be gunned down for fun and prizes. Let’s prove we are better than this.

Please sign this petition to demand a statewide ban on coyote killing contests in Nevada. The time to act is now.

Photo: Filipe DeAndrade