Urban Coyote Coexistence Strategies

Coyotes have colonized cities across North America and coexistence requires community education more than lethal control.

Key Facts

Coyotes now inhabit all major North American cities including New York and Los Angeles
Lethal removal is counterproductive — vacated territories are quickly refilled
Coyotes that associate humans with food become bold and must be hazed
Coyote attacks on humans are extremely rare — tens per year in all of North America
They provide ecosystem services including rodent control and carrion removal

Welfare Considerations

Urban coyotes subjected to lethal control programs suffer unnecessarily while the policy fails. Trapping and killing coyotes stresses animals and tears apart family groups without reducing coyote presence. Indiscriminate trapping injures non-target animals including dogs and cats. A better approach uses community-wide hazing — making coyotes maintain natural wariness of humans — combined with food security (securing garbage, not feeding pets outdoors). Coyotes in areas with food conditioning become bold and eventually require lethal removal, but this failure mode is entirely prevention through public education.

What You Can Do

Never feed coyotes, even indirectly through unsecured garbage or outdoor pet food
Haze bold coyotes using noise, water, and assertive posture
Keep small pets supervised or enclosed in coyote-proof areas
Engage your community in evidence-based coexistence education
Oppose bounty programs and indiscriminate coyote killing as ineffective and cruel