Eastern Coyotes

The coyotes found in the DC metro area tend to be different than coyotes in the western part of the US, and are called Eastern coyotes. When coyotes first started to move to the East coast, some of them first migrated up north to Canada, New England, and New York State, and gradually made their way down south through generations. Others went down south and made their way north. And still, others came straight across the country. The mid-Atlantic region is the last part of the continental United States that coyotes have colonized (here's a research article about this).

One of the things that make canids so interesting is that wolves (Canis lupus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) can interbreed and have healthy offspring. This is not common, but when populations are under stress and become smaller in size it becomes more likely for species to interbreed. This is why Eastern coyotes generally have some wolf and/or dog genes in their genetic makeup. It’s unlikely that breeding between the species continues today as much as it once may have since coyote populations are now well-established and coyotes prefer to mate with their own kind. Of course, there are no wild wolves in the mid-Atlantic region, so there have been no recent coyote-wolf interbreeding in the DC area. The genetic contributions of wolves in Eastern coyote populations can vary greatly, from just a couple of percentage points up to 25% up north. 

You might have heard reports of “coywolves” in the news. This is not an accurate term for the animals we see here (they are not half coyote/half-wolf hybrids), and the term “coywolf” might generate more concern about their presence than the more accurate “Eastern coyote.” In addition, “coywolf” ignores the contribution domestic dogs have made to Eastern coyotes (see this article for more insight on that). ​

Eastern coyotes, like all predators, play an important role in our local ecosystems. This is especially important as we’ve removed all larger predators such as wolves and mountain lions from this area. Coyotes are adaptable and live well in close proximity to humans, and – perhaps most importantly – they’re here to stay. It is impossible to get rid of coyotes; although you might be able to temporarily suppress their populations through lethal control (killing the animals), the population will recover, and in some cases even grow. Once coyotes have found a suitable habitat, more coyotes will follow and occupy a territory that is vacated. If we want to prevent and reduce human-coyote conflict, we need to change our own behavior and learn to live with our wild neighbors.