Summer 2011 |
Newsletter Archive |
Living with Coyotes | |
Coyotes (Canis latrans) exist throughout North American and their flexible feeding
and reproductive behavior allows them to persist in urban environments. Unfortunately,
research has found that some coyotes become habituated through access to human
attractants (e.g. garbage, bird seed, or fruits from trees), which has led to
serious conflicts with people and pets. As habituation is one of the most significant
contributors to conflict with coyotes, we have the opportunity to manage coyotes
by managing people. Hence, understanding the human dimensions (e.g., attitudes,
values, beliefs, and actions) of wildlife issues is at least as important as understanding
the ecology of the species). The Miistakis Institute has established a Community Based Research (CBR) framework
to address human coyote conflicts in the City of Calgary. 1) coyotes are eating a substantial amount of garbage (16% of scats surveyed
showed evidence of human source foods), which leads to habitation; Living with Coyotes is rooted in the concept of experiential learning and the
recognized need for increased public participation in local wildlife issues.
There are many perceived benefits to integrating citizens into knowledge production:
promoting awareness of local issues, building community capacity to enhance
public involvement in stewardship, fostering an environment for a stronger public
role in decision making, and the generation of data collected at a lower cost
than conventional science. Living with Coyotes provides an opportunity for scientists,
citizens and decision makers to work collaboratively and learn together about
coyotes in Calgary. Ultimately, this approach will increase the individual's
knowledge on coyotes as well as promote a community informed on wildlife conservation
issues whom are more likely to take action to protect the wildlife in the region. | |