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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Canis latrans
Coyote

 
Scientific Name: Canis latrans Say, 1823
English Name: Coyote
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: M-CALA
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Mammalia Carnivora Canidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S5 (Jul 2024)
BC List: Yellow
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2005)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Mates in late winter. Gestation lasts 60-65 days. Litter size averages 4-7 in different areas. Young are born March-May. Both parents tend young. Family leaves den when young 8-10 weeks old. Young are on their own by late fall. Sexually mature in 1-2 years. Interbreeds freely with domestic dog.
Global Ecology Comments: Population density generally is around 0.2-1.0 per sq km, though seasonally higher densities have been recorded in Texas. (Knowlton 1972). Most of the population usually is less than 3 years old.

In the north, populations may increase when wolf population is low, decrease when wolf population increases.

In Texas, "interactions between social organization and food availability were implicated in regulation of [a]...lightly exploited high-density population" (Windberg 1995).

In the prairie pothole region, the presence of low numbers of coyotes may benefit ducks by excluding the more destructive red fox (NBS news release, 29 June 1994).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		Y /
N /
N /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Adults travel an average of up to 20 km every day. In a pine-oak forest in Durango, Mexico, males (the more mobile sex) traveled an average of 16.5 km during a 24-hour period, more than the 8.1 km recorded in Texas, similar to distances traveled in forested area in Nebraska, and less than the 20.2 km in Nova Scotia (see Servin et al. 2003). Females in Durango averged 12.5 km per 24 hours. Distances varied during different parts of the breeding cycle.

Home ranges variously reported as 8-80 square kilometers (Bekoff 1977); 10-100 square kilometers (Hawthorne 1971); 5-7.2 square kilometers (stable packs in an area of large mammal abundance; Camenzind 1978).

Home range averaged 17-19 sq km for adults in a farm region in Vermont, where all members of individual family groups shared the same home range and core activity areas of adjacent social groups were mutually exclusive (Person and Hirth 1991). Home range may be larger in winter than in summer (Schwartz and Schwartz 1981, Parker and Maxwell 1989); range increases greatly after pups reared (Harrison and Gilbert 1985).

Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Facultative - frequent use
Agriculture / Hedgerow / Facultative - frequent use
Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Facultative - frequent use
Alpine/Tundra / Alpine Grassland / Unknown
Alpine/Tundra / Krummholtz / Facultative - occasional use
Alpine/Tundra / Tundra / Facultative - occasional use
Anthropogenic / Urban/Suburban / Facultative - frequent use
Forest / Conifer Forest - Dry / Facultative - frequent use
Forest / Conifer Forest - Mesic (average) / Facultative - frequent use
Forest / Conifer Forest - Moist/wet / Facultative - frequent use
Forest / Deciduous/Broadleaf Forest / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Antelope-brush Steppe / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Grassland / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Sagebrush Steppe / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Logged / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Natural / Facultative - frequent use
Other Unique Habitats / Avalanche Track / Facultative - occasional use
Riparian / Gravel Bar / Facultative - frequent use
Riparian / Riparian Forest / Facultative - frequent use
Riparian / Riparian Herbaceous / Facultative - frequent use
Riparian / Riparian Shrub / Facultative - frequent use
Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Talus / Facultative - occasional use
Wetland / Bog / Facultative - occasional use
Wetland / Fen / Facultative - occasional use
Wetland / Marsh / Facultative - occasional use
Wetland / Swamp / Facultative - occasional use
Global Habitat Comments: Found in a wide range of habitats in its extensive range, from open prairies of the west to the heavily forested regions of the Northeast. In cities in some areas.

Examples of some recent habitat studies: In northern Vermont, preferred hardwood forests in winter and spring, farmland in summer and fall (Person and Hirth 1991). In British Columbia, preferred dense spruce forest and/or areas where snowshoe hare was abundant (Murray et al. 1994).

Young are born in a den usually in a burrow (enlarged burrow of other mammal or dug by female), with the opening often oriented toward the south. Dens also may be above ground (e.g., at base of tree under low, overhanging branches; in hollow log or rock crevice), or under building. Commonly uses same den in subsequent years.
Food Habits: Carnivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: An opportunistic feeder; mainly carrion (including prey killed by other carnivores), small vertebrates, and invertebrates. Occasionally feeds on vegetation.
Global Phenology: Crepuscular: Adult, Immature
Nocturnal: Adult, Immature
Global Phenology Comments: Mainly crepuscular and nocturnal, though commonly observed during daylight hours in some areas.
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 132/ / 18100
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: Originally ranged throughout western and central North America, perhaps with only widely scattered populations in the southeastern U.S. Range expanded into eastern U.S. with opening of forest and extermination of wolf. Range has also expanded north to northern Alaska and south to Costa Rica. Introduced in Florida and Georgia. (Wozencraft, in Wilson and Reeder 1993).
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Oct 15, 2003
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
Baker, R. H. 1983. Michigan mammals. Michigan State University Press. 642 pp.
Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
Bekoff, M. 1977. Canis latrans. American Society of Mammalogists, Mammalian Species No. 79. 9 pp.
Bekoff, M., editor. 1978. Coyotes: biology, behavior and management. Academic Press, New York. 384 pp.
Burns, R. J., H. P. Tietjen, and G. E. Connolly. 1991. Secondary hazard of Livestock Protection Collars to skunks and eagles. J. Wildl. Manage. 55:701-704.
Caire, W., J. D. Tyler, B. P. Glass, and M. A. Mares. 1989. Mammals of Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Oklahoma. 567 pp.
Carbyn, L. N. 1989. Coyote attacks on children in western North America. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 17:444-446.
Dolnick, E.H., et al. 1976. Bibliography on the control andmanagement of the coyote and related canids with selected references on animal phys., beh., control methods, and repro. Agric. Res. Serv., Beltsville, MD. 2
Gier, H. T. 1975. Ecology and behavior of the coyote (Canis latrans). Pages 247-262 in M. W. Fox, ed. The Wild Canids; their systematics, behavioral ecology and evolution. Van Nostrand and Reinhold Co., New York. xvi + 508 pp.
Hall, E. R. 1981a. The Mammals of North America, second edition. Vols. I & II. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York. 1181 pp.
Hamilton, W. J., Jr., and J. O. Whitaker, Jr. 1979. Mammals of the eastern United States. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, New York. 346 pp.
Harrison, D. J., and J. R. Gilbert. 1985. Denning ecology and movements of coyotes in Maine during pup rearing. J. Mamm. 66:712-719.
Henke, S. E., and F. C. Bryant. 1992. Changes in rodent community ecology due to intensive coyote control on a semiarid, short-grass prairie. Abstract, 6th Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, p. 72.
Hoffmeister, D. F. 1986. Mammals of Arizona. University of Arizona Press and Arizona Game and Fish Department. 602 pp.
Jones, J. K., Jr., R. S. Hoffman, D. W. Rice, C. Jones, R. J. Baker, and M. D. Engstrom. 1992a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 146:1-23.
Knowlton, F.F. 1972. Preliminary interpretations of coyotepopulation mechanics with some management implications. J. Wildl. Mgmt. 36(3):369-382.
Lehman, N., et al. 1991. Introgression of coyote mitochondrial DNA into sympatric North American gray wolf populations. Evolution 45:104-119.
Murray, D. L., S. Boutin, and M. O'Donoghue. 1994. Winter habitat selection by lynx and coyotes in relation to snowshoe hare abundance. Canadian J. Zoology 72:1444-1451.
Parker, G. 1995. Eastern coyote: the story of its success. Nimbus Publishing, Halifax, Nova Scotia. x + 254 pp.
Parker, G. R., and J. W. Maxwell. 1989. Seasonal movements and winter ecology of the coyote, Canis latrans, in northern New Brunswick. Canadian Field-Nat. 103:1-11.
Person, D. K., and D. H. Hirth. 1991. Home range and habitat use of coyotes in a farm region of Vermont. J. Wildl. Manage. 55:433-441.
Schwartz, C. W., and E. R. Schwartz. 1981. The wild mammals of Missouri. University of Missouri Press, Columbia. 356 pp.
Sheldon, J. W. 1991. Wild dogs: the natural history of the nondomestic Canidae. Academic Press. 248 pp.
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Windberg, L. A. 1995. Demography of a high-density coyote population. Canadian Journal of Zoology 73:942-954.
Young, S.P. and H.H.T. Jackson. 1951. The clever coyote. Part l. its history, life habits, economic status and control. Part ll. classification of the races of the coyote.Wash. 411 pp.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2003. Species Summary: Canis latrans. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Dec 13, 2025).