New research reveals killing coyotes increases their numbers

A picture of a coyote standing in shrubs and grasses.
Coyotes (Canis latrans are curious, intelligent, and family-oriented animals who play a major role in modern ecosystems.
Photo by karlumbriaco / Getty Images

By Dr. Valli Fraser-Celin

Moll, R. J., Green, A. M., Allen, M. L., & Kays, R. (2024). People or predators? comparing habitat‐dependent effects of hunting and large carnivores on the abundance of North America’s top mesocarnivore. 'Ecography', 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.07390

 

Coyotes have dramatically increased their range over the last 100 years, and like other species, their numbers and range are affected by various factors, including climate, prey availability, competition, predation, and human influence. Understanding the interplay and impact of these factors plays an essential role in wildlife management.

Human influence often affects large carnivores such as coyotes, with hunting being a leading cause of large carnivore mortality. For example, coyotes may pose a real or perceived threat to livestock, pets, and humans, leading to hunting and trapping coyotes as a way to prevent incidents of human-wildlife conflict. However, this method has been shown to have limited effectiveness with continued expansion of coyotes’ range, even into Central America.

Additionally, other research has shown that hunting can actually increase coyote abundance in a region: the removal of local coyote populations via hunting leaves room for more (often younger) coyotes to immigrate to the area. These new coyotes can also potentially have higher successful breeding rates, leading to more coyotes in a local area in the long run. 

To better understand how coyote abundance is affected by habitat, hunting, development, and other large carnivores, the Ecology study researchers used data from a three-year, USA-scale camera trap survey alongside locations where hunting coyotes is permitted within a particular camera range.

Focusing on how hunting affects coyote abundance, the researchers included three types of habitat in their analysis: forest, urban, grass/shrubland); previous research has suggested that the effects of hunting could be influenced by habitat and competition with other species. 

An image showing a coyote in Stanley Park
A coyote (Canis latrans) pauses while walking through Vancouver's Stanley Park in summer 2021.
Trail cam photo provided by Dr. Kristen Walker / UBC

Study Findings

The findings of this study showed “a positive association between hunting regulations and abundance” of coyotes. It also provides the largest-scale evidence that hunting coyotes, as a method of managing populations, is ineffective. The study revealed that despite liberal hunting regulations (e.g. no seasonal restrictions or limits on numbers, size, or sex of animals a single hunter can kill in a day), there was a positive effect on coyote abundance locally, in particular in grassland habitat. 

In conclusion, according to the authors of this study, the results of this research imply that hunting does not negatively impact coyote abundance, but it often actually increases local abundance. Thus hunting is not only an ineffective control strategy, but can have the opposite intended management effect.

This research reveals that wildlife management strategies that focus on liberal hunting as the first (and sometimes only) way to limit human-coyote conflict can indeed have the opposite intended effect. Wildlife management strategies must consider the bigger picture of how hunting impacts localized populations of coyotes in the long-term, with habitat playing an important role in management strategies. Taken together, a more holistic approach to wildlife management that considers interconnected factors and regulatory restrictions on hunting may indeed prove to have better outcomes for both humans and coyotes.

About Dr. Valli Fraser-Celin
Dr. Valli Fraser-Celin holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Guelph where she studied human-African wild dog conflict and conservation in Botswana, Africa. Valli has always been interested in the human dimensions of wildlife, in particular, humans’ relationships with large carnivores, she collaborated with the Fur-Bearers on a research project exploring Canadians’ perceptions of and knowledge about wolves. Valli is also passionate about dogs, and advocates for dog welfare through her Instagram @thelivesofwilddogs. In her spare time, she runs a pet pantry at her local community centre for pet guardians experiencing pet food insecurity.

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