University of Georgia researchers say about 80% of coyote interactions reported to state officials were sightings, while just 9% of calls reported a coyote threatening an animal or a person.
The study by the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources shows that not only are coyotes living in the metro Atlanta area, but they’re moving into deep urban centers across the country, too.
The researchers also track what they call human-wildlife conflict reports, including recording where different interactions occur, which they said helps them create maps to “predict what type of conflicts are most likely to be reported in that area.”
According to UGA and Wildlife Atlanta, coyotes have been in Georgia since at least the 1970s. However, the “rapid urbanization in Atlanta has increased interactions between humans, wildlife and domestic animals, exposing them to zoonotic diseases.”
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Generally, and with urban interactions in mind, concerns over rabies aren’t completely unfounded, but Summer Fink, a doctoral student involved in the research, said fear over contracting rabies is very high due to people not normally being exposed to larger animals like coyotes.