Recent research is shedding new light on why coyotes in North America sometimes attack people without any provocation. A team from Ohio State University and collaborating researchers examined a range of factors to understand these incidents beyond the widely held belief that human food waste drives aggression. The study combined careful behavioral observations with scientific analysis to reconstruct the meals and hunting patterns of coyotes that have shown aggressive tendencies in public spaces, offering a more nuanced picture of the behaviors involved.
Back in 2009, a fatal coyote attack in a Canadian park prompted scientists to explore the idea that coyotes living near humans and relying on human waste would be more likely to bite people. This line of thought suggested that opportunistic feeding could raise the risk of dangerous encounters. Yet early conclusions did not capture the full context of why these animals might target larger, moving beings in certain situations.
To build a fuller understanding, the research team pursued a comprehensive approach to determine the dietary habits of coyotes implicated in attacks. By analyzing whisker samples from a broad range of coyotes, including those involved in aggressive incidents, researchers recovered stable isotopes and tissue markers that reveal what the animals had eaten. This method allowed scientists to trace the dietary history of individual coyotes and identify patterns across different events.
Findings show that coyotes involved in attacks were not primarily depending on human-derived foods. Instead, the data indicate a shift toward larger prey when small mammals become scarce due to harsh winter conditions and persistent bad weather. Prolonged snow cover and frigid temperatures reduce the availability of typical prey like mice and other small mammals, pushing coyotes to expand their foraging to larger animals such as deer and elk. In these conditions, coyotes encounter big, moving targets more often, which may increase the likelihood of confrontations with people who share spaces with wildlife. The study suggests this ecological pressure can teach a coyote to view large mammals as viable prey, potentially shaping behavior that leads to dangerous encounters with humans. In other words, predators may learn to pursue larger, more challenging targets when traditional prey is scarce.
Experts emphasize that human behavior and landscape changes still play a substantial role in shaping how coyote populations interact with people. Improved waste management, secure refuse containers, and informed public education about staying safe in wildlife areas can help reduce opportunities for coyotes to become habituated to human presence. Ongoing monitoring of coyote movements, food sources, and environmental stressors remains essential for anticipating shifts in risk and guiding wildlife management decisions. The evolving understanding of coyote predation strategies underscores the importance of viewing wildlife through an ecological lens, recognizing how climate variability and resource availability influence predator behavior in shared habitats. The findings reflect a coordinated effort by researchers working with the Ohio State University press office and partner institutions. [Citation]