Rise of the coyote: The new top dog

Levy, Sharon

doi:10.1038/485296a

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Causal factors include a growing human population and more tourists visiting polar bear areas, increased oil and gas development along the Arctic coastline, and decreasing ice volume and seasonal extent due to climate change 63 . Indeed, human-polar bear encounters are expected to increase as the sea ice continues to melt and hungry bears are driven ashore ( http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/essentials/attacks-and-encounters ; http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/04/polar-bear-attacks-scientists-warn-warming-arctic ); (ii) the remarkable increase in coyote attacks may be related to both the recent substantial expansion of the coyote range in eastern North America 64 and increased conflicts in suburban residential areas. In these areas, coyotes can relax human avoidance mechanisms as a result of relying on anthropogenic food resources and even intentional feeding by residents 4 ; and (iii) wolves were the only species to show a decreasing trend in the number of attacks, declining from 10 attacks during the decade 1975–1984 to only two or three attacks per decade starting in 1985.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Human behaviour can trigger large carnivore attacks in developed countries

Penteriani

Delgado

Pinchera

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

178

165

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The media and scientific literature are increasingly reporting an escalation of large carnivore attacks on humans in North America and Europe. Although rare compared to human fatalities by other wildlife, the media often overplay large carnivore attacks on humans, causing increased fear and negative attitudes towards coexisting with and conserving these species. Although large carnivore populations are generally increasing in developed countries, increased numbers are not solely responsible for the observed rise in the number of attacks by large carnivores. Here we show that an increasing number of people are involved in outdoor activities and, when doing so, some people engage in risk-enhancing behaviour that can increase the probability of a risky encounter and a potential attack. About half of the well-documented reported attacks have involved risk-enhancing human behaviours, the most common of which is leaving children unattended. Our study provides unique insight into the causes, and as a result the prevention, of large carnivore attacks on people. Prevention and information that can encourage appropriate human behaviour when sharing the landscape with large carnivores are of paramount importance to reduce both potentially fatal human-carnivore encounters and their consequences to large carnivores.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Human behaviour can trigger large carnivore attacks in developed countries

Penteriani

Delgado

Pinchera

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

178

165

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“…More accurate coyote range maps have been published in the past (e.g., Young and Jackson 1951 , Nowak 1978 , 1979 ), but the Parker (1995) map has recently been reproduced as accurate description of coyote range expansion in the scientific and popular literature (e.g. Levy 2012 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the expansion of coyotes (Canis latrans) across North and Central America

Hody¹,

Kays²

2018

189

145

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The geographic distribution of coyotes (Canis latrans) has dramatically expanded since 1900, spreading across much of North America in a period when most other mammal species have been declining. Although this considerable expansion has been well documented at the state/provincial scale, continent-wide descriptions of coyote spread have portrayed conflicting distributions for coyotes prior to the 1900s, with popularly referenced anecdotal accounts showing them restricted to the great plains, and more obscure, but data-rich accounts suggesting they ranged across the arid west. To provide a scientifically credible map of the coyote’s historical range (10,000–300 BP) and describe their range expansion from 1900 to 2016, we synthesized archaeological and fossil records, museum specimens, peer-reviewed reports, and records from wildlife management agencies. Museum specimens confirm that coyotes have been present in the arid west and California throughout the Holocene, well before European colonization. Their range in the late 1800s was undistinguishable from earlier periods, and matched the distribution of non-forest habitat in the region. Coyote expansion began around 1900 as they moved north into taiga forests, east into deciduous forests, west into costal temperate rain forests, and south into tropical rainforests. Forest fragmentation and the extirpation of larger predators probably enabled these expansions. In addition, hybridization with wolves (C. lupus, C. lycaon, and/or C. rufus) and/or domestic dogs has been documented in the east, and suspected in the south. Our detailed account of the original range of coyotes and their subsequent expansion provides the core description of a large scale ecological experiment that can help us better understand the predator-prey interactions, as well as evolution through hybridization.

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“…The common coyote, Canis latrans , is a species of feral canids that is found throughout North and Central America. Unlike the wolf, the coyote's range has expanded in the wake of human civilization, with coyotes readily reproducing in urban areas . Coyotes are drawn into suburban environments that can support an abundance of wildlife including rodents and rabbits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%