Unhoused people and wildlife are increasingly coming into contact. Here’s what can be done to protect them

A coyote walks through Coronation Park in Toronto. Coyotes thrive in cities and have a remarkable capacity to live alongside humans. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Evan Buhler Unhoused people and wildlife are increasingly coming into contact. Here’s what can be done to protect them Published: July 14, 2026 2.28pm EDT Share article Print article As homelessness increases around the world, more unhoused people are turning to parks and other urban green spaces to seek shelter. However, these places are also home to animals that live in and around urban areas. This sets the stage for potentially dangerous interactions between humans and urban wildlife such as coyotes. Unhoused people face the risk of contracting disease from wild animals, while animals can be displaced by human presence. Recent work by my colleagues and me shows that this issue contributes to human-wildlife conflict, with important ecological and social consequences. To explore conflict between homeless communities and urban wildlife, we focused on coyotes in Edmonton. One of the most successful carnivores of the Anthropocene, coyotes thrive in cities. They have a remarkable capacity to live alongside humans, as well as an ability to get into trouble with people; conflict includes property damage, disease transmission, attacks on pets and, rarely, people. Data we examined from the Edmonton Urban Coyote Project showed that the number of coyote conflict reports in the city is increasing. These include interactions in which coyotes intimidated, approached or attacked humans or their pets. Key to our work were the harsh winter conditions in Edmonton. Consistent snowfall transforms the city into a canvas that records the details of coyote life, which can be read footprint by footprint, telling us what they eat and where they go to find safety. Cold temperatures also encourage people sleeping outdoors to seek heated spaces, but unoccupied encampments remain highly visible. This combination allowed us to read the stories of human-wildlife interactions in the snow, while respecting human privacy. Three forms of conflict Tents belonging to unhoused people in Montréal in February 2026. Direct support to those experiencing homelessness could alleviate some imminent threats to their well-being. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi Competition: Tracking showed that people experiencing homelessness and coyotes often used the same areas. This makes sense — both seek secure areas, far from major trails,…