Canis latrans: Coyote

Coyote - Canis latrans
( Say, 1823 )

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Subspecies:	Unknown
Est. World Population:

CITES Status:	NOT LISTED
IUCN Status:	Least Concern
U.S. ESA Status:	NOT LISTED

Body Length:
Tail Length:
Shoulder Height:
Weight:

Top Speed:
Jumping Ability:	(Horizontal)

Life Span:	in the Wild
Life Span:	in Captivity

Sexual Maturity:	(Females)
Sexual Maturity:	(Males)
Litter Size:
Gestation Period:

Habitat:

Coyotes utilize almost all available habitats including prairie, forest, desert, mountain and tropical ecosystems. The ability of coyotes to exploit human resources allows them to occupy urban areas; their recent expansion in eastern Panama has been attributed to their using deforested areas and areas of cattle ranching (Méndez-Carvajal and Moreno 2014). Water availability may limit Coyote distribution in some desert environments. Coyotes are opportunistic, generalist predators that eat a variety of food items, typically consuming items in relation to changes in availability. Coyotes eat foods ranging from fruit and insects to large ungulates and livestock. Livestock and wild ungulates may often be represented in coyote stomachs and scats as carrion, but predation on large ungulates (native and domestic) does occur (Andelt 1987). Predation by Coyotes on neonates of native ungulates can be high during fawning (Andelt 1987). Coyotes in suburban areas are adept at exploiting human-made food resources and will readily consume dog food or other human-related items.

Range:

Coyotes were originally native to the arid open country of U.S., Canada, and Mexico prior to European settlement (Hody and Kays 2018). During the 19th century, the Coyote expanded into forested biomes they previously hadn't used including eastern deciduous forests, taiga forests of the north, temperate rainforests in the north west, and tropical rainforests in the south. The fragmentation of forests with agriculture, and extinction of larger predators like the Grey Wolf Canis lupus and the Jaguar Panthera onca, are thought to have facilitated their expansion. Hybridization with dogs and wolves also played a role in their expansion eastward (Kays et al. 2010,; Von Holdt et al. 2011). Coyotes have now colonized all of North America except for polar areas, and are approaching the border between Central and South America in the Darien region of Panama.

Conservation:

Legislation
The species is not included on the CITES Appendices, and there is no legal protection of the species. Restrictions on harvest and method of harvest depend upon state or provincial regulations.

Presence in protected areas
The Coyote occurs in almost all protected areas across its range.

Occurrence in captivity
Over 2,000 Coyotes occur in captivity in zoos, wildlife centres, etc., throughout their range. They readily reproduce in captivity and survival is high.

Gaps in knowledge
Several gaps in knowledge still remain: coyote reproductive physiology and possible modes of fertility control; selective management of problem animals; effects of control; genetic differentiation from other canids (particularly the red wolf); development of non-lethal depredation techniques; interactions of coyotes and other predators; coyote-prey interactions; human-coyote interactions and conflicts at the urban interface; factors influencing prey selection; communication; adaptations in urban and rural environments; and interactions with threatened and endangered species.