Managing critically important predator encounters airside.
Summary
Coyotes are extremely hard to deter from airports, as they are masters of navigating fences and will even follow vehicles directly through gates.
The problem with coyotes on airport property is less the danger of conflict with the animal, but the risk of missed approaches by landing aircraft.
Following years of standard management practices yielding little to no results and continuously burning budget, Humane Solutions was consulted to develop and implement an innovative and progressive monitoring and response program.
Scope
Essentially, the program focuses on data. We use various methods to effectively and economically understand the local population of coyotes, their general habits, and any concerning behaviour.
Intervention is sometimes necessary, however, the action is usually along the lines of mitigating resources or identifying and addressing perimeter fence breaches.
When a coyote is deemed too dangerous to remain onsite, the Humane Solutions predator team is quickly dispatched to quickly and humanely target and remove the individual in question.
The Impact
The program has been running successfully for years now, and we hope to make the methodology developed here available for more airports in the near future.