Twitter Tuesday Week 7

In Twitter Tuesday of this week, I identified two problems and challenges coyotes are facing by asking ChatGPT. Based on the two problems I chose, I found two credible research articles that support and explain these two problems on Google Scholar. Then, I also found two organizations on Twitter that advocate coyotes and learned many interesting facts about coyotes and other animals!

The two challenges coyotes face are human-wildlife conflict and illegal hunting and trapping. I asked ChatGPT “Tell me some problems coyotes are facing in the U.S.” ChatGPT provided a list of problems and I chose these two because I think they are very close to our daily lives, as we can see them anywhere in our neighborhood. As I dived deeper into these two problems, I had a better understanding of them. Because of coyotes’ remarkable adaptability, they become very common in urban areas, which become a threat to humans and their properties. They may enter people’s houses and cause damage, steal food, kill pets, and sometimes even attack children. Because of this, some humans started to hate them and hurt them when they got a chance. This phenomenon led to the second challenge they are facing, which is illegal hunting and trapping. As the people start having hatred toward coyotes, they may kill and trap them to seek revenge. Some people shoot, trap, and sometimes torture the coyotes because they messed around with their properties. In another perspective, some people kill coyotes just for their skin and sell them for money. Even though there are laws that forbid the hunting and trapping of coyotes, it is hard to enforce them because coyotes can’t call the police when they are trapped or get shot at. 

After confirming the problems I wanted to research, I browsed Google Scholar and searched with the keyword “coyote”. I found two interesting articles that addressed these problems. The first article is Coyotes and Humans: Can We Coexist, written by Camilla H. Fox. Fox addressed the problem coyotes and humans are facing because of the expansion of the coyote population. Because coyotes can easily thrive in urban areas, the top death reason for them is traffic accidents. They don’t know that the cars would hit them and kill them and they don’t know how to look both sides of the road before crossing. The second reason is food poisoning. One of the reasons why coyotes can thrive in urban areas is because they can eat human food and there is abundant food in the trash can. They may find food that is toxic in the trash cans and that food can easily kill them. 

The second article I found is Environmental Factors Influencing the Occurrence of Coyotes and Conflicts in Urban Areas, written by Sharon A. Poessel, Eric M. Gese, and Julie K. Young. This article further explained the coyote-human conflicts. As I mentioned above, the urban coyotes sometimes invade people’s houses and attack their pets. The researchers explained that the coyotes are avoiding humans but they have to find food for their pups. Therefore, invading people’s houses is one of their choices. 

In part three of this assignment, I found two organizations on Twitter that advocate coyotes and work on protecting them and promoting their rights. I found both organizations by searching “coyote advocacy project” on Twitter, but I later found out that I already followed them. The first organization I found is “Project Coyote”. This is the link to their website. They post many interesting facts and cute pictures of coyotes and ask people to treat coyotes with kindness and respect. One picture I like a lot is the Mother’s Day ecard. A mommy coyote is walking in front of four pups and it is such a warm family picture. They also post recent laws and news about the coyotes and wolves. This is a very meaningful account and I would recommend my classmates to check it out!

Another organization I found is “In Defense of Animals”. This is the link to their website. They are working on advocating many wild animals like coyotes, beavers, elephants, orcas, and so many more! They had 40 years of service to animals with hundreds of victims, and they led 18 campaigns that fought for a better world for the animals. This organization has love not only for coyotes but all the animals in the world. They are also not only talking and drawing their plans on paper, they work on their missions by taking immediate action and helping the animals with their hands.