Garbage diets may make urban coyotes more aggressive, U of A research shows

The trash-based diets of urban coyotes in the Edmonton area could be affecting how they're interacting with people, according to new research from the University of Alberta.

Researcher Scott Sugdenexamined stomach contents and bacteria samples from 76 coyotes in the Edmonton area as part of his master's degree in science.

Sugden and other researchers found items that aren't part of a coyote'snormal diet of meat from small animals.They founda still-wrapped burrito, trash and compost in the stomach contents.

Roughly two-thirds of the coyotes studied had human food in their stomachs, Sugden said.

Without their normal, protein-rich diet, many of the coyotes were low on the critical bacterial groupFusobacterium,Sugden told Edmonton AM on Monday.

Other research has shown fewer Fuso bacteria couldbe partially to blame foraggressive behaviour in animals, he said.

"In domestic dogs, lower abundance of Fuso bacteria have been pretty loosely linked to aggression. There's a possibility that this change in this microbiome could be influencing coyote behaviour," Sugden said.

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By nature, coyotes are opportunistic feeders, according to the City of Edmonton's website.

More coyotes are "adapting to food sources in residential areas eating readily available backyard food sources such as garbage, fruit and pet food," the website states.

Sugden said there could be long-term effects for coyotes who don't consume their typical diets of small mammals.

"The real premise of the study is we know from humans, what we eat has a huge effect on gut microbiome, the gut bacteria that live in our intestines. Our gut microbiomes have important effects on health, immune system and behaviour."

Research continues, but Sugden hopes people start tolearn about the effects of these altered diets on Edmonton's coyote population.

"As coyotes adapt to the urban environment, the process of that adaptation is multi-faceted and could be mediatedby microbiomes and contents of their intestines," he said.

"The food that coyotes have access to and the food they're able to eat could have downstream implications for their microbiomes, their behaviour, fitness, their health."