Why are kayotes endangered?

Answer 1

The coyote is not an endangered animal. Coyotes can be found all over North America and coexist well with human beings.

The expansion of the coyote can be traced to humans. The Mississippi River was a natural boundary to prevent the coyote's eastern movement, but as the river was bridged, the coyotes took advantage. Add to that illegal releases of coyotes for hunting purposes, and you have a situation that is hard to repair. Coyotes are intelligent, and highly adaptable.

As for coexisting well, that is not true. Coyotes will kill pets, and even attack humans on rare occasions, especially children. They are not a native part of the eastern fauna, and in some areas have displaced native species like gray and red foxes. The red wolf has been restored to part of it's natural range in North Carolina, and they have had trouble with coyotes breeding with wolves that had no mates. That problem, however, is being curtailed by the Wildlife Commission.

Red wolf packs will kill coyotes, but it's the lone wolf without a partner that will mate with them, producing hybrid pups, and ruining the integrity of the nominate species.

Most eastern states now support taking of coyotes year round, but this highly intelligent species is probably here to stay.