Coyote Urban Adaptation and Coexistence Welfare

Coyotes have successfully colonized urban and suburban environments but face welfare challenges from vehicle strikes, poison, and lethal control programs.

Key Facts

Coyotes now inhabit every major US city including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston
Urban coyotes are primarily nocturnal and subsist on diverse diets including fruit, rodents, and human food waste
Vehicle strikes are the leading cause of urban coyote mortality, killing thousands annually
Anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning secondarily affects coyotes eating poisoned rodents
Lethal coyote control programs have repeatedly failed to reduce populations due to compensatory reproduction

Welfare Considerations

Urban coyotes who survive vehicle strikes often experience severe trauma injuries before dying, representing a major cause of acute welfare harm. Secondary rodenticide poisoning causes prolonged suffering from coagulopathy before death. Mange transmitted from inadequately managed domestic animal populations causes intense pruritus and secondary infection in affected coyotes. Lethal control programs subject animals to trapping and shooting stress without achieving population management goals. Hazing programs that maintain coyote wariness of humans represent a humane coexistence alternative that reduces conflict while avoiding welfare-harmful lethal control.

What You Can Do

Never feed coyotes directly or indirectly through unsecured garbage or compost
Support hazing education programs that maintain appropriate coyote wariness of humans
Advocate against anticoagulant rodenticide use in urban areas to protect coyotes and other scavengers
Drive carefully at dawn and dusk when coyotes are most active near urban road corridors