Coyotes in the Media
Is the media responsible for making the coyote the "bad guy"?
As coyotes have become more prevalent in urban settings, coyote stories in the news have risen. A study in Canada found that of the 453 news stories on coyotes found between 1998 and 2010, 227 were about coyote interactions with humans and domestic animals. In those news stories, the words used most “when describing coyotes were: brazen, wiley, mangy, nuisance, wild and vicious.” Most news stories focus on coyote attacks, when in actuality attacks from coyotes are minimal. Researchers found that the emotions that were described in the articles about these interactions mostly included fear of children's, pets and one’s own safety.
The media’s portrayal of a certain animal can largely influence public opinion, as most people educate themselves on issues via the news they consume. If the media only reports sensational stories, then we are at risk that the public only thinks of coyotes as scary and vicious. Instead of learning to coexist and understanding how rare coyote encounters really are, sensational stories risk villainization and elimination of these keystone predators.
Coyotes in Chicago Media
Coyote presence is sensationalized in Chicago media and Chicago social platforms. A study found that “newspaper articles concerning human–coyote conflicts have increased over twenty-fold since the 1990s (Figure 1). Perhaps as a result, homeowners in the Chicago metropolitan area have ranked coyotes as the wildlife species perceived as the greatest threat to human health and safety (Miller, Campbell, Yeagle, & Colligan, 2001), despite that there have not been any verified coyote attacks on humans within the Chicago metropolitan area to date.”
References and source of Figure 1: UHDW14(6).book(UHDW_A_405705.fm) (urbancoyoteresearch.com)
The Skokie Devonshire Coyote: A Case of Education vs. Villanization
In the Spring of 2021, a coyote (believed to be a mother or father with babies close by) was present during daylight hours “escorting” residents of the Skokie (a suburb of Chicago) Devonshire neighborhood away from its den. This escorting behavior is a tactic to keep their babies safe and, though the behaviors seem threatening (i.e., showing teeth, “bluff” charges, hunching), they are just trying to scare your dog away without having to fight it. However, this escorting behavior unsurprisingly terrified humans and there were calls to remove the coyote. What most do not know is that if a female is removed, the male will abandon the den as well, which means the pups will die. There was much public debate between those who wanted coyotes removed and those who thought the coyotes should live where they please, especially if they had pups.
In the end, animal control decided to use the situation as an educational experience, deciding not to trap the coyote and instead teaching the public how to coexist by distributing press releases and placing flyers in the area which educated the public on what to do if approached by a coyote. After a few weeks of sightings, the coyote family moved on and no attacks were ever reported.