Coyotes, Conflict, and Cities

Exploring the Role of Social Heterogeneity in Shaping Coyote Behavior

Despite recent groundbreaking discoveries and innovation in the fields of urban ecology, evolution, and behavior, work investigating how variance in human social systems induces behavioral change is relatively nascent. Within-city variation in how humans perceive and interact with wildlife likely predicts the strategies that urban organisms may use to navigate the city. Hence, variation across multiple axes (e.g., cultural, political, demographic) may explain variance in observed behavioral shifts of wildlife. In this talk, I will discuss how social heterogeneity in the built environment contributes to human-carnivore conflict using lessons from the coyote (Canis latrans). Repeated evidence using mixed methods suggests that both human footprint (e.g., building densities) and human presence (e.g., visitation) have substantial influence on how coyotes navigate urban environments. The distribution of food subsidies, domestic pets, and refuse, also contribute to heightened tolerance of humans, which set the stage for conflict. In sum, behavior can be used as a fundamental trait to understand how society shapes the ecology of cities.