Urban coyotes are coyotes that reside in North American metropolitan areas (major cities and their suburbs). Coyotes thrive in suburban settings and urban regions because of the availability of food and the lack of predators. [1] [2] One report described them as "thriving" in U.S. cities, [3] and a 2013 report in The Economist suggested that urban coyotes were increasingly living in cities and suburbs. [4]
Wildlife ecologists at Ohio State University studied coyotes living in Chicago over a seven-year period (2000–2007) and found that coyotes have adapted well to living in densely populated urban environments while avoiding contact with humans. They found that urban coyotes tend to live longer than their rural counterparts, kill rodents and small pets, and live anywhere from parks to industrial areas. The researchers estimated that there are up to 2,000 coyotes living in the Chicago metropolitan area and that this circumstance may well apply to many other urban areas in North America. [5] [ dead link ]
In Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park, coyotes den and raise their young, scavenge roadkill, and hunt rodents. "I don't see it as a bad thing for a park," the assigned National Park Service biologist told a reporter for Smithsonian Magazine. "I see it as good for keeping animal populations in control, like the squirrels and the mice." [6]
Unlike rural coyotes, urban ones have a longer lifespan and tend to live in higher densities but rarely attack humans and can be frightened away by arm waving or loud noises. [7] The animals generally are nocturnal and prey upon rabbits, rats, Canada geese, fruit, insects and family pets, especially small dogs and domestic cats. [8] Analysis of urban coyote scat found that the most common food source of Southern California coyotes came from anthropogenic sources, namely edible plantings cultivated by humans (particularly figs, palm fruit and grapes), litter/refuse, and domestic cats. They also consumed gophers, ground squirrels (but rarely rats or mice), rabbits and birds. [9] Meanwhile, the diet of suburban coyotes included a much higher proportion of native mammals, primarily rabbits. [9] Urban coyotes in Southern California have a lower genetic diversity than their suburban counterparts. [10] Urbanization also leads to reduced gene flow between adjacent populations. [10]
Coyotes in all Canadian provinces can be attracted to food left out for birds, or prey upon stray cats, and tend to live between apartment buildings and in industrial parks throughout major cities from Vancouver through Toronto and all the way to St. John's.
”We rarely think about storm drains, power line rights of way, or railroad tracks, but these are coyote highways, linking one habitat to another,” note the authors of Wild L.A.: Explore the Amazing Nature in and Around Los Angeles. [11]
One study in Tucson, Arizona found that urban coyotes had similar antibodies and pathogens to coyotes in general, and had a survival rate in the city of 72% for any given year, on average. [12] A study in 2007 suggested that coyotes were "successful in adjusting to an urbanized landscape" with high survival rates, and are frequently in "close proximity" to people. [13]
Both studies suggested that a major cause of deaths of urban coyotes was collisions with motorized vehicles. [5] [12]
A researcher studying the impact of coyotes in the city of Austin, Texas found that urban coyote management techniques, including steps to trap and remove coyotes who were exhibiting bold or aggressive behavior, as well as efforts to educate the public about not feeding the animals, had had a positive effect in lessening possible risk to humans or to pets. [14] Urban coyotes are more bold and exploratory than suburban coyotes. [15] These traits are believed to be caused by positive interactions with urban human populations in the past several decades. [15]
California and Vermont ban coyote hunting contests. [16]
In order to ensure that urban coyotes remain afraid of humans, Edmonton, Canada announced that volunteers would "make a ruckus" if coyotes do not run away when initially approached. [17]
A coyote nicknamed "Hal" made his way to New York City's Central Park in March 2006, wandering about the park for at least two days before being captured by officials. New York City parks commissioner Adrian Benepe noted this coyote had to be very adventurous and curious to get so far into the city. [18] In 2015, there were reports of coyotes howling at night in Central Park. [19]
An incident occurred in April 2007 in the Chicago Loop district, where a coyote, later nicknamed "Adrian", quietly entered a Quiznos restaurant during the lunch hours; he was later captured and released at a wildlife rehabilitation center near Barrington, Illinois. [20] [21] In February 2010, up to three coyotes were spotted on the Columbia University campus in New York City, and another coyote sighting occurred in Central Park. [22] Up to ten coyotes have also been living and breeding in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. [23]
The first successful coyote den reported on Long Island was recorded in May 2016. The Port Authority of New York attempted to relocate that coyote family in August of the same year as the coyotes had become too friendly and people were attempting to feed them. The Port Authority was unsuccessful in relocating the coyote family and eventually the USDA Wildlife services euthanized all but one. [24]
Urban coyotes are among the large carnivores known to prey on humans. [25] [26] There have been two recorded human fatalities attributed to coyote attacks. [27] Most notably that of Taylor Mitchell in 2009 at Cape Breton Highlands National Park. [28]
The coyote, also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological niche as the golden jackal does in Eurasia; however, the coyote is generally larger.
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
The red wolf is a canine native to the southeastern United States. Its size is intermediate between the coyote and gray wolf.
Stanley Park is a 405-hectare (1,001-acre) public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal Harbour to its southeast, and is connected to the North Shore via the Lions Gate Bridge. The historic lighthouse on Brockton Point marks the park's easternmost point. While it is not the largest urban park, Stanley Park is about one-fifth larger than New York City's 340-hectare (840-acre) Central Park and almost half the size of London's 960-hectare (2,360-acre) Richmond Park.
Urban ecology is the scientific study of the relation of living organisms with each other and their surroundings in an urban environment. An urban environment refers to environments dominated by high-density residential and commercial buildings, paved surfaces, and other urban-related factors that create a unique landscape. The goal of urban ecology is to achieve a balance between human culture and the natural environment.
The eastern wolf, also known as the timber wolf, Algonquin wolf and eastern timber wolf, is a canine of debated taxonomy native to the Great Lakes region and southeastern Canada. It is considered to be either a unique subspecies of gray wolf or red wolf or a separate species from both. Many studies have found the eastern wolf to be the product of ancient and recent genetic admixture between the gray wolf and the coyote, while other studies have found some or all populations of the eastern wolf, as well as coyotes, originally separated from a common ancestor with the wolf over 1 million years ago and that these populations of the eastern wolf may be the same species as or a closely related species to the red wolf of the Southeastern United States. Regardless of its status, it is regarded as unique and therefore worthy of conservation with Canada citing the population in eastern Canada as being the eastern wolf population subject to protection.
The American badger is a North American badger similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely related. It is found in the western, central, and northeastern United States, northern Mexico, and south-central Canada to certain areas of southwestern British Columbia.
A coywolf is a canid hybrid descended from coyotes, eastern wolves, gray wolves, and dogs. All of these species are members of the genus Canis with 78 chromosomes; they therefore can interbreed. One genetic study indicates that these species genetically diverged relatively recently. Genomic studies indicate that nearly all North American gray wolf populations possess some degree of admixture with coyotes following a geographic cline, with the lowest levels occurring in Alaska, and the highest in Ontario and Quebec, as well as Atlantic Canada. Another term for these hybrids is sometimes wolfote.
A pack is a social group of conspecific canines. The number of members in a pack and their social behavior varies from species to species. Social structure is very important in a pack. Canine packs are led by a breeding pair, consisting of the alpha male and alpha female.
The prohibition "do not feed the animals" reflects a policy forbidding the artificial feeding of wild or feral animals. Signs displaying this message are commonly found in zoos, circuses, animal theme parks, aquariums, national parks, parks, public spaces, farms, and other places where people come into contact with wildlife. In some cases there are laws to enforce such no-feeding policies.
Urban wildlife is wildlife that can live or thrive in urban/suburban environments or around densely populated human settlements such as towns.
Canis edwardii, also known as Edward's wolf, is an extinct species of wolf in the genus Canis which was endemic to North America three million years ago from the Late Blancan stage of the Pliocene epoch and was extinct by the end of the Irvingtonian stage of the Pleistocene epoch.
The Alberta Mountain forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The eastern coyote is a wild North American canine hybrid with both coyote and wolf parentage. The hybridization likely first occurred in the Great Lakes region, as western coyotes moved east. It was first noticed during the early 1930s to the late 1940s, and likely originated in the aftermath of the extirpation of the gray wolf and eastern wolf in southeastern Ontario, Labrador and Quebec, thus allowing coyotes to colonize the former wolf ranges, and mix with the remnant wolf populations. This hybrid is smaller than the eastern wolf and holds smaller territories, but is larger and holds more extensive home ranges than the typical western coyote.
The Southern Great Lakes lowland forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. Located near the Great Lakes, it lies mostly in the central northeastern United States and extends into southeast central Canada. In modern times, little of it remains intact due to land use, including agriculture and urban uses.
The Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES) is a non-profit organization founded in 1988 that works alongside of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation to promote stewardship and conservation in Stanley Park. The park is an urban oasis located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is important because it adds value to the city while providing environmental and cultural benefits. With an abundance of wildlife, the Stanley Park Ecology Society protects the species of Stanley Park through conservation.
The Pleistocene coyote, also known as the Ice Age coyote, is an extinct subspecies of coyote that lived in western North America during the Late Pleistocene era. Most remains of the subspecies were found in southern California, though at least one was discovered in Idaho. It was part of a North American carnivore guild that included other canids like foxes, gray wolves, and dire wolves. Some studies suggest that the Pleistocene "coyote" was not in fact a coyote, but rather an extinct western population of the red wolf.
Urban evolution refers to the heritable genetic changes of populations in response to urban development and anthropogenic activities in urban areas. Urban evolution can be caused by mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, or evolution by natural selection. Biologists have observed evolutionary change in numerous species compared to their rural counterparts on a relatively short timescale.
The New York City borough of the Bronx is one of the most densely populated places in the United States, but is home to a wide range of wildlife. The borough has a land area of 42 sq mi (110 km2), of which 24 percent is parkland. Most of the open area is in the northern section of the borough, adjacent to Westchester County, allowing easy migration of animals from the mainland. The tree canopy of the Bronx cover 25% of the land area, hosting a wide range of avian species.
