A canid of North and Central America, with a slender muzzle and large erect ears.
Its upper coat is grey-brown to yellowish grey, with a pale throat and belly. The bushy tail has a black tip.
A study tracking coyotes in the Chicago metropolitan area found that home-range size and movement varied with urbanization. The researchers used GPS data from 2008 to 2017 to compare natural fragments, suburban landscapes and highly urbanized areas. They identified 23 resident coyote home ranges: seven in natural fragments, seven in suburbs and nine in highly urbanized areas. Mean home-range size was about 3.2 km² in natural fragments, smaller in suburbs, and about 7.1 km² in highly urbanized areas.
In a separate movement analysis of 51 GPS bursts from 13 coyotes, the modeled share of time spent staying in one place rose from about 58% in suburbs to 62% in highly urbanized areas. The authors interpreted these patterns as suggesting that usable places may be closer together in suburbs, while human presence and fragmented usable space may shape movement in more urban landscapes.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global
The IUCN Red List global assessment lists the coyote as Least Concern (LC). The assessment date was 10 January 2018 and it was published in 2018; the reported population trend is increasing.