Coyote Sightings in Ottawa South

Observation by Arpa Barua:

I reside in Ottawa’s south end and have easy access to the National Capital Commission’s (NCC) Greenbelt Trails in the West Hunt Club region. One morning in February, 2022 when I went for a walk, I noticed footprints of a four legged animal going in the direction of my path. The footprints looked different from those of dogs and given that I recently read about coyote sightings in the area, I quickly headed home. Unfortunately I did not have my phone on me during the walk to take a photo of the footprints but Figure 1 below looks similar to what I saw that morning.

That morning upon further research I learnt that the number of coyote sightings have increased in Ottawa since 2019 (Andrews and Campbell, 2022). Since January 1st 2022, the City of Ottawa received 335 service requests related to coyotes (City of Ottawa, 2022). Experts suggest that coyotes can be dangerous to human beings and so are considered as hazards (Andrews and Campbell, 2022; Stow et al., 2022). Additionally, coyotes can be fatal to domestic pets such as small dogs and cats on the loose, however these attacks are rare and seldom (Andrews and Campbell, 2022; Stow et al., 2022). The NCC does not intervene with coyotes but rather mark the areas for residents nearby to be cautious and has advised them to not feed coyotes (Stow et al., 2022). Even though urban coyotes have coexisted alongside humans for a while now, the recent spike in their sightings have alerted residents and experts (Andrews and Campbell, 2022).

Coyotes are generally shy animals that fit well in urban settings with protective cover such as wooded forests or natural habitat patches and water bodies nearby (Poessel et al., 2016). They are known to keep rodents like mice and voles, pests and critters population at bay in suburban areas (Charbonneau, 2022). However, coyotes are gradually adapting and becoming less fearful of human beings (Andrews and Campbell, 2022) . Since 2020, there have been an increasing number of incidents in Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia of coyotes attacking park visitors (Brend, 2021).

Brend (2021) reports that some residents near Stanley Park have asked for culling the coyote population. However, experts highlight that humans are often to blame for these ecosystem shifts through actions such as feeding coyotes, leaving around bait that were used to attract racoons for social media purposes and disposing garbage in areas easily accessible to coyotes (Brend, 2021; Bongaarts, 2019). Additionally, urban sprawl is expanding towards natural spaces, encouraging coyotes to establish territories within residential areas for easy accessibility to food sources (Bongaarts, 2019; Stow et al., 2022). As a result, coyotes are consuming trash such as plastic, grass and compost which makes them weak and vulnerable to parasites (Sugden, 2021, as cited in Chung, 2021). This exacerbates the issue as coyotes can pass these harmful parasites to humans through bites, rodents and passing feces (Sugden, 2021, as cited in Chung, 2021. Currently, academic and conservation experts are focusing on educational campaigns for citizens in case of coyote encounters or attacks and garbage disposal methods (Sugden, 2021, as cited in Chung, 2021).

References Andrews, B., & Campbell, M. (2022, January 20). Coyote Sightings on the Rise in Ottawa. Here's What to Do If You See One. Retrieved September 20, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/urban-coyote-what-to-do-garbage-bag-method-1.6310477.

Bongaarts, J. (2019). Ipbes, 2019. summary for policymakers of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Population and Development Review, 45(3), 680–681. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12283

Brend, Y. (2021, August 21). Wildlife Experts Investigate Why Coyotes Have Attacked Dozens of People in Vancouver. Retrieved September 24, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-coyotes-biting-humans-spree-mystery-1.6148154.

Charbonneau, D. (2022, August 24). More Coyotes Spotted in Ottawa Neighbourhoods. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/more-coyotes-spotted-in-ottawa-neighbourhoods-1.6040853.

Chung, E. (2021, March 10). Urban Coyotes Are Literally Full of Garbage — and That's Risky for Humans, Study Suggests. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/coyote-diet-1.5942641.

Data, & City of Ottawa, Data Requests (2022). City of Ottawa. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://open.ottawa.ca/datasets/ottawa::2022-monthly-service-requests/explore.

Poessel, S. A., Gese, E. M., & Young, J. K. (2016). Environmental factors influencing the occurrence of coyotes and conflicts in urban areas. Landscape and Urban Planning, 157, 259–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.05.022

Stow, N., Pink, J., Hartig, C., & Demers, C. (2022, September 9). How to coexist with Coyotes in the National Capital Region. National Capital Commission. Retrieved September 24, 2022, from https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/blog/how-to-coexist-with-coyotes-in-canadas-capital-region#:~:text=Coyotes%20are%20an%20integral%20part,them%20out%20during%20the%20day.