Ep. 159 : Tracking Urban Adapted Coyote Ecologies with Sage Raymond
Certified wildlife tracker Sage Raymond, is completing her Masters of Science studying Urban-adapted Coyote ecologies in Edmonton. She has been working with colleagues on the Edmonton Urban Coyote Project studying the patterns and behaviours of these urbanized Coyotes in hopes to be better able to predict, and reduce some of the possible problems or conflicts which could occur between these wilder animals and human/pet populations.
Additionally, we talk about the use of tracking as a useful, non-invasive tool for studying wildlife, novel non-native zoonotic diseases (potentially lethal tapeworms!!) which are infecting the Coyotes and the implications that has for co-habiting human populations.
Studies Sage mentioned in the interview:
E. multilocularis is especially prevalent in Edmonton/ Alberta: "Helminth parasites and zoonotic risk associated with urban coyotes (Canis latrans) in Alberta, Canada."; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30588908/
Example of news article about this parasite in Alberta: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/tapeworm-echinococcus-multilocularis-alberta-klein-calgary-veterinarian-disease-coyotes-dogs-1.5224864
Example of the coyote downward spiral where bad food <--> bad health <--> bad behaviour: "Greater consumption of protein-poor anthropogenic food by urban relative to rural coyotes increases diet breadth and potential for human-wildlife conflict" ; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecog.01128
Coyotes that eat anthropogenic food have different microbiomes: "An altered microbiome in urban coyotes mediates relationships between anthropogenic diet and poor health"
Example of Echinococcosis through a One Health Lens: "Neglected Zoonoses and the Missing Opportunities for One Health Education: The Case of Cystic Echinococcosis among Surgically Operated Patients in Basrah, Southern Iraq"
A great, great paper showing that physicians are on top of their stuff!: Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Alveolar Echinococcosis: An Emerging Infectious Disease in Alberta, Canada