Photo credit: Wikipedia
Note: This story originally appeared Nov. 4, 2015.
Eastern hunters routinely see and shoot coyotes, but some of them may not be true coyotes at all. Research into wolf and coyote DNA is finding that some eastern coyotes may in fact be a hybridized form of eastern wolves which bred with western coyotes, as well as a few breeds of domestic dog thrown in for good measure. As an article from The Economist so eloquently put it, eastern wolves, faced with a smaller pool of potential mates, “are not beneath lowering their standards.”
The article pointed to the works of Dr. Roland Kays of North Carolina State University and Pepperdine University’s Javier Monzon. Each has researched the eastern “coywolf,” as many call the hybrid. The canine is likely a result of human efforts to eradicate wolves in the eastern U.S. — poisons, hunting, trapping, etc. These efforts led to a significantly smaller number of eastern wolves, and even fewer viable breeding pairs. That lack of mating potential led to breeding with coyotes.
Monzon studied 437 animals in 10 northeastern states and Ontario. He discovered that the DNA of coywolves, while 65 percent coyote on average, is 25 percent wolf and 10 percent dog. The dog DNA comes mainly from large breeds such as German shepherds and Doberman pinschers.
Kays pointed to the physical benefits of such a genetic makeup. Coywolves weigh roughly 55 pounds — heavier than a true coyote — with longer legs, heavier musculature, and longer jaws.
Hunters and biologists have long debated if coyotes are capable of bringing down fully grown white-tailed deer. Coyotes, maybe not; coywolves can do it with ease. Packs can even take down moose.
Their diet is incredibly diverse (small rodents to deer to even pumpkins), they have adapted to nocturnal life in urban areas far better than deer (they have learned to look both ways before crossing the street), and they occupy smaller home ranges. Even their call is hybridized: the long wail of a wolf, trailing off into the familiar yip of a coyote.
In truth, all coyotes east of the Mississippi may be coywolves to some degree. True coyotes avoid hunting in the forests, probably due to their adaptations to western prairies. Coywolves are perfectly comfortable in the timber, just like wolves. This may help explain why eastern “coyotes” can often be taken with shotguns inside wooded areas.
The hybrids are already well-established in the northeastern section of the U.S.; New York City has 20 confirmed animals inside city limits, with that number increasing. “Coyotes” have been moving into the Southeast for more than 50 years. These may be moving south instead of east as previously thought.
The scientific world won’t go so far as to call the hybrid a new species. A truly unique species would not mate with another species (think moose with mule deer). Coywolves are the epitome of mongrels, with their genetic ratios continuing to change as the three original species mix and match. Whatever science may choose to label them, hunters in the East will likely be hearing the coywolf’s call in the near future.
