Introducing wolves leads to fewer wildland coyotes, researchers find

As the population of gray wolves expands across the northern United States, researchers are finding a surprising side-effect: Their presence appears to lead to a reduction in the coyote population. Wildlife researchers at the University of Washington are using radio transmitter collars and game cameras to determine how the new presence of top-of-the-food-chain predators is influencing scavengers, or "kleptoparasites," particularly coyotes. "Wolves really seem to have it in for coyotes," said Laura Prugh, associate professor of wildlife and forest sciences at the university. In a "fatal attraction" scenario, coyotes that sneak up to the carcass of a wolf-killed elk or moose are attacked by their canid cousin in brutal ways, Prugh said. "We've seen cases where wolves decapitated coyotes and buried their heads, kinda mob-style. It really is dog-eat-dog," she said. Coyotes have expanded their territory nationwide into both human and wildland areas since the early 20th century, showing up in New York City's Central Park and on the streets of Los Angeles and Chicago. In urban areas, they sometimes attack small pets and occasionally bite humans. They are hated by federal and state game officials, but trapping, poisoning and blowing them up with cyanide bombs does little to diminish their population. As movements grow to reintroduce wolves in western states like Colorado, coyote populations in wildland areas might drop, Prugh said. But she doubts wolves would follow coyotes into urban areas. "Wolves don't do well with people," Prugh said. "Coyotes will always have a refuge in cities and places where there are lots of people." Unlike wolves, coyotes hunt in pairs, or with a small pack of family members. "They are extremely pair-bonded," said Prugh, who has witnessed coyotes snuggling in the wild. "But if their mate is killed, they'll find another mate within a month."...MORE