Living with Coyotes is rooted in the concept of experiential learning and the recognized need for increased public participation in local wildlife conservation issues. There are many perceived benefits to integrating citizens into knowledge production: promoting awareness of local environmental issues, building community capacity to enhance public involvement in stewardship, fostering an environment for a stronger public role in decision making, and the generation of data collected at a lower cost than conventional science.
Living with Coyotes provides a rich opportunity for scientists, citizens and decision makers to work collaboratively and learn together about coyotes in Calgary.
Ultimately, this approach will increase the individual's knowledge on urban wildlife as well as promote a community informed on wildlife conservation issues whom are more likely to take action to protect the wildlife in the region. Initial public engagement (observing and recording wildlife) has been evolving towards the development of an ecologically literate citizenry actively pursuing community sustainability.
For information and to use the mapping tool, please click here