The Gotham Coyote Project is an effort to study the ecology of eastern coyote in NYC. Coyotes are recent arrivals to NYC, and our main goal is to document this range expansion.

Our camera trap network is the largest and oldest component of the project, and we deploy cameras in the Bronx, upper Manhattan, and Queens for 2 >8 week deployments each year. Typically we have a winter/spring deployment that runs from Jan/Feb to April or May and a summer deployment that runs from mid/late June to mid/late August.

We have found that the 2nd half of winter and early/mid spring are the periods where coyotes occupy the largest number of sites, ie, the dispersal period. The winter survey is usually when we find new colonizations.

Our summer survey focuses on finding and monitoring breeding sites; usually in July pups are mobile enough to be photographed by our cams.

Primarily we trap wooded sections of parks, but recently we have expanded into golf courses, cemetaries and other semi-developed greenspaces. Our sampling design is a pragmatic mix of systematic sampling balanced by logistical restraints and the eternal quest to find places to put our cams where they will not be vandalized or stolen. We attempt to put cameras along 5 established transects that cut through NYC, where every 5km segment receives up to 4 cameras (typically 2), with a minimum 1km spacing between cams. This system is limited by our ability to, again, find safe sites for our cameras and, of course, the total number of cameras we own.

Cameras are baited with FASD's and occaisonally Goverment Call trapping lure. While coyotes are our primary interest, we also use our camera data for wt deer abundance estimates, general biodiversity surveys, and monitoring other carnivores such as red fox, mink, and other species that are entering the City.