The cause of unprovoked coyote attacks on humans in the United States may be an adaptation to hunting big game. About informs Ohio State University press office.
In 2009, a group of coyotes mutilated a woman to death in a park in Canada. Traditionally, these animals are considered relatively harmless unless provoked, and so scientists initially thought that coyotes’ dependence on human food (litter) and human exposure in general were causing the problem.
Now, during the study, zoologists have proven that this is not so. To do this, the scientists analyzed whisker samples of animals, including those that attacked humans. This analysis made it possible to reconstruct the diet of the animals.
It turns out that jackals attacking humans eat deer, not human food. According to scientists, prolonged snowfall, cold weather and bad weather are reducing the availability of small mammals, which are the traditional prey of coyotes. For this reason, coyotes begin to feed on large game animals such as deer and elk. This teaches them to attack a large target, namely a person.