Coyotes have successfully colonized urban and suburban environments across North America, creating human-wildlife coexistence challenges with significant welfare implications for both species.
Urban coyotes face welfare challenges from vehicle collisions, which are the primary human-caused mortality source in urban populations. Consumption of rodenticide-poisoned prey causes secondary poisoning that leads to slow, painful death from internal hemorrhage. Mange from Sarcoptes scabiei infestations causes severe skin disease and suffering in urban coyote populations. Lethal control programs, when implemented, involve trapping and shooting methods that cause acute suffering and fail to provide lasting population reduction due to compensatory reproduction. Non-lethal coexistence approaches that reduce human-coyote conflict without lethal removal improve welfare outcomes for coyotes while addressing human concerns. Education about securing attractants and appropriate hazing techniques addresses conflict at its source.