Coyotes become fearless around people in just a few generations—which isn’t good for their longterm co-existence with humans in cities.
Coyotes are now common residents of many large urban areas. And while it doesn’t happen all that often, coyotes are increasingly coming into conflict with people and pets.
“They’re these mid-sized carnivores, [though] most people see them just as large carnivores,” said evolutionary biologist Christopher Schell, professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at University of Washington-Tacoma.
“Being in a city like Los Angeles or Chicago or New York is just mind-boggling and awe-inspiring. In some instances, for a lot of people because they don’t know much about the animals, it could be something that generates fear because of misunderstandings.”
Schell wants to understand how coyotes come to feel so comfortable around people—so he can come up with strategies for preventing it. And he suspects it might have something to do with the parenting.