Do Western Coyotes prey on adult Bison and/or Bison calves?.........."Bison appear to be a rare food source for Coyotes"........"In Yellowstone National Park,. Murie’s (1940) analysis of 5,086 Coyote scats showed a percentage occurrence of 0.20% Bison, and Murie found it unlikely that Coyotes would kill Bison calves, recording that anecdotal reports of the same “lacked proof”........."More recently, a 1995 study of Coyote Predation on Large Ungulates In Yellowstone revealed no killing of Bison by Coyotes(Gese and Grothe 1995)"............."Bison embody a formidable set of anti-predator adaptations, including well-developed maternal guarding behaviors (Carbyn and Trottier 1987, 1988)"..... "General herd behaviors of Bison cow-calf groups and size constraints (up the ante and greatly) regulate prey acquisition by the relatively small framed and light-weight Coyote"........."Certainly, predation attempts on ungulate neonates are a high risk activity for Coyotes"..........The 2009 recording of a Yellowstone Park Bison calf killed by an alpha male Coyote shows that predation on Bison calves may be possible under certain, albeit rare, conditions involving separation of a calf from its mother(Sheldon, Reed, Burnett, Li and Crabtree)"

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/30/incredible-images-show-bison-protect-calf-coyote-yellowstone-national-park/355087001/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYBCoUMTI2MjA4NDM2NTQ5NjMyMTk0MzUyGmNmMTk3NTA4N2Y5NWNmOTY6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNG_fJmf9EuVy_tDi17Kge9QwXcbMA

Incredible images show bison protect calf from coyote at Yellowstone National Park

  USA TODAY Network; Mary Bowerman May 30, 2017

 Stunning photos show a bison defend her newborn calf from a coyote in Yellowstone National Park. 

The photos, taken by Ranger Joy Guffy, show the coyote attempt to chase the tiny calf and grab it, while the mother bison fights back.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO WATCH THE MOTHER BISON PROTECT HER
CALF FROM THE COYOTE

http://makeagif.com/i/82vKr8

Yellowstone National Park shared the photos on Twitter Tuesday and called the coyote "determined." 

According to Yellowstone National Park, the bison had recently given birth. 

While there aren't numbers on the bison calfs killed by coyotes or wolves each year, it's not uncommon for the young to become targets, according Jonathan Shafer, a Yellowstone National Park spokesman.

"When it comes to smaller animals, they're definitely preferred prey," Shafer told USA TODAY in a phone interview. "It's easiest to catch something small." 

After giving birth, a cow bison successfully defended her newborn calf from a very determined coyote. (Courtesy Ranger Joy Guffy)

------------------------------------

Click on picture or 'COYOTE AND BISON CALF" phrase(link) below to view a Bison calf actually playing and chasing a Coyote......Note the Coyote staying well clear of the Mother Bison Coyote and Bison calf by Joe Holliday --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://journals.sfu.ca/cfn/index.php/cfn/article/download/974/979 Coyote, Canis latrans,  Predation on a Bison,  Bison bison, Calf in Yellowstone National Park 2009 J.W. SHELDON, GREGORY REED,  A. CHEYENNE BURNETT, KEVIN LI,  and ROBERT L. CRABTREE Yellowstone Ecological Research Center,  2048 Analysis Drive, Bozeman, Montana 59718 USA;  Canadian Field-Naturalist 123(3): 260–261. In the Yellowstone ecosystem, Coyote spring/summer diet consists of small mammals and ungulate neonates, primarily American Elk calves (Cervus elaphus), but also Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) calves and the fawns of Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and White-tailed Deer (O. virginianus) (Murie 1940; Gese and Grothe 1995; Gese et al. 1996). Bison (Bison bison) appear to be a rare food source for Coyotes. Murie’s (1940) analysis of 5086 Coyote scats showed a percentage occurrence of 0.20% Bison, and Murie found it unlikely that Coyotes would kill Bison calves, recording that anecdotal reports of the same “lacked proof”. Adult Bison chasing a Coyote More recently, a study of Coyote predation on large ungulates in Yellowstone found that both White-tailed Deer and Elk were killed by packs of Coyotes hunting together in winter (Gese and Grothe 1995).  No predation on Bison was recorded in either of these Yellowstone Coyote studies. Circumstantial evidence at kill sites in Yellowstone has suggested that predation on Bison calves by groups of Coyotes may occur, but no report has been published. Coyotes are opportunistic predators capable of killing ungulate prey, usually hunting in packs. However, Bison embody a formidable set of anti-predator adaptations, including well-developed maternal guarding behaviors (Carbyn and Trottier 1987, 1988), general herd behaviors of cow-calf groups, and size constraints that regulate prey acquisition by the relatively small framed and light-weight Coyote.  The cost of predation attempts on ungulate neonates is demonstrably high: an alpha female Coyote with pups in the den was killed during a predation attempt on an Elk calf (unpublished data; this study; 2005), with her post-mortem indicating blunt-force trauma as the cause of death. Certainly, predation attempts on ungulate neonates are a high risk activity for Coyotes. Notably, in eight out of nine predation attempts on large ungulate prey, the alpha male led the attack (Gese and Grothe 1995), as was also the case in our observation. In this instance, the stranding of the Bison calf was a causal factor leading to its death. The observed successful kill by a single adult male Coyote shows that predation on Bison calves may be possible under certain, albeit rare, conditions involving separation of a calf from its mother. It also shows that the size/weight limit of prey for adult Coyotes may be revised slightly upward.  The ecological context for the observed predation suggests that it may be part of a larger prey-switching phenomenon accompanying changes in spring use areas by ungulate prey, primarily Elk (Garrott et al. 2007). Our observation is of additional interest because theYellowstone ecological community embodies the southernmost outpost of an intact and functioning ungulate-predator system in North America, surrounded by areas of increasingly intensive human activity. --------------------------------------------------------------------

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwja_MeGkJvUAhUmw1QKHSrMDbEQFghgMAc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nrcresearchpress.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1139%2Fz98-232&usg=AFQjCNEGRGLP-_3GzmKHYhPZ7Vz68fMV8A&sig2=9eKPA1idZ2b5kb_JSPalWg

Threat of predation: do ungulates behave aggressively towards different members of a coyote pack?

Eric M Gese; 1999

ABSTRACT

Wild ungulates have evolved a variety of antipredator strategies to deter or escape predation by carnivores. Among wild canids, the dominant pair of a pack often initiates attacks upon prey. Previous observations in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, showed that the alpha pair in a coyote (Canis latrans) pack most often leads attacks on ungulates during winter.

 We were interested in determining whether ungulates can distinguish (perhaps by body size or posture) which members of a coyote pack are the alpha individuals, and whether they initiate and direct aggressive behavior towards those members of the pack that pose the greatest threat of predation to themselves and (or) their offspring. During 2507 h of behavioral observations on 54 coyotes between January 1991 and June 1993, we observed 51 interactions between coyotes and adult elk (Cervus elaphus), bison (Bison bison), and pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) in Yellowstone National Park.


Adult Bison starting down two Coyotes

 The interactions analyzed here are those in which the ungulate appeared to initiate aggressive behavior towards the coyote(s) and were not a response to an attack by the predators. We found that aggression by ungulates towards coyotes was highest during the summer months, when calves and fawns were present; female ungulates were more frequently aggressive than males.

 The frequency of aggression of adult ungulates towards small and large groups of coyotes was equal to the frequency of occurrence of these groups. Ungulates directed aggressive behavior more frequently towards alpha coyotes and were less aggressive towards beta coyotes and pups. Large ungulates, particularly elk and bison, appeared to perceive that alpha coyotes posed a greater threat to themselves and their offspring. The smaller ungulate, the pronghorn antelope, directed aggressive behavior equally towards all coyotes. Adult ungulates were probably responding to the larger body size of the alpha coyotes and the tendency of alpha coyotes to travel at the front of the pack.

10,000 years ago the Paleoindians of what is now Stanton County, Kansas(near the Colorado border) hunted Bison on foot, with only spears to secure their valued prey.........."Creeping up on watering holes where the Bison lingered, they divided into two teams"........"The spear-throwers, probably all men, hid in the grass and sagebrush 50 yards away along the rim of the steep dirt bank"........"They watched the other team, the drivers, creep out of gullies to the east"..........."The drivers walked slowly toward the herd, forming a human half-ring".........."The drivers would have walked slowly at first"..............."But as the beasts got nervous and edged west, the drivers charged, waving hides, bunching bison against the bank where the hunters hid"........................ "This was the moment of fear as Bison can quickly become aggressive"....................."These bison were bigger than modern bison and could toss a man 10 feet in the air"....................... "The shouts from the drivers in the ambush would have bunched the herd against the dirt bank, with their hooves stuck in rain-soaked mud"................."At the moment the herd bunched, trapped, the hunters leaped up, one hand holding extra spears, the other spear arm curling upward"........"They pitched volley after volley of spears into bison rib cages"................... "The attack lasted only minutes"........ "The hunters almost certainly used atlatls, two-foot-long spear-throwing sticks"

READ FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING ON THIS LINK
https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article153093719.html&ct=ga&cd=CAEYASoROTk3NjUxNjU3OTk5NTM0ODQyGmNmMTk3NTA4N2Y5NWNmOTY6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNE38R4nXDrOub79EYGM-r7nK_53Tg

Mystery solved: Scientists reconstruct 10,300-year-old bison hunt in what is now Stanton County, Kansas

May 27, 2017

In the Summer of 2002, an Archaeology team dug out a portion of Bear Creek in Stanton County and found bones and a mystery buried under a few feet of gray soil.

Rolfe Mandel is a geoarchaeologist from the University of Kansas who’s long been one of the leading explorers hunting evidence of Paleoindians, the ancient ancestors of Native Americans.

Rolfe Mandel, geoarchaeologist; U. of Kansas

But what he first uncovered when he and a team of other archaeologists started digging holes along the dirt bank here was a thick bed of white bone stretching 40 yards — nearly half the length of a football field — the skeletons all bunched up, shoulder to shoulder, all 10,300 years old.

What he found was more than a great story, Mandel said.

It is a window in time — and an ancient testament to human daring.

How did they do it?

We used to learn in school that Kansas history started with John Brown and the Civil War and railroads 150 years ago.

But the age of this site, in far western Kansas a short drive from the Colorado border, predates most of the invention of agriculture.


paleoindians hunting bison with Atlatls

It’s so old that at 103 centuries ago, the bow and arrow hadn’t been invented yet. The hunters killed the bison from not much more than arm’s length.

Attacking that herd was incredibly dangerous, but that’s what those hunters did.

And there’s more:

The hunters who killed these beasts might have worked in an ambush team that included their own family members

Stanton County, Kansas dig site

Bison,trapped in the river bed by paleoindians

Charging paleoindians attacking bison with
Atlatls

As so many of your readers know all too well, "Grizzly Bears once ranged as far east as the Mississippi River and as far south as central Mexico"................ "Today, it's considered an endangered species(soon to be delisted???) in the U.S. and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) lists Western grizzlies as a species of special concern"....... "The prairie population is considered extinct in Canada"........... "A 2013 status report by COSEWIC estimated there were about 26,000 grizzly bears in Western Canada, with the majority of them in B.C. (approximately 15,000)"............ "Yukon had an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 grizzlies".............."Environment Yukon, along with the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, is asking Yukoners to fill out an online survey about grizzlies as a first step in creating a management plan that will keep the big bears a functioning and integral part of the Yukon landscape in the centuries ahead

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-grizzly-bear-management-plan-survey-1.4132037&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTE1NjA2ODM5NTAyNTk0Mzc2NzIyGjU2ZDFlN2YxOWU4Zjk5OTE6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNEdl8nDtyo4fAQnTI9I_ok10GeWQA

Yukon looks to preserve and manage grizzly bear population

'There's been many places where grizzly bears have gone extinct,' says biologist Tom Jung

By Paul Tukker, CBC News Posted: May 25, 2017 

Even within the Yukon, there are areas where they may be doing better than in other areas. And part of the plan is trying to look at ways that we can monitor the situation,' said government biologist Tom Jung. (Government of Yukon)

Grizzly bears are generally doing "quite well" in Yukon, according to government biologist Tom Jung — and wildlife officials are aiming to keep it that way.

The territorial government is developing a conservation and management plan for the species, and it's asking Yukoners to weigh in on what that plan might look like.


The Yukon Province in Canada(shaded red)

The goal, Jung says, is to ensure that Yukon's grizzlies don't go the way of their cousins down south.

"Their populations often decline, and there's been many places where grizzly bears have gone extinct — a lot of the lower 48 [states] for example, some of the prairies provinces," he said.

The goal, Jung says, is to ensure that Yukon's grizzlies don't go the way of their cousins down south. 'Their populations often decline,' he said. (Mike Rudyk)

"So, the writing's on the wall that this is a species that if we're not careful ... we could be in that situation."

The plan would apply only to grizzlies, not black bears which are also common in Yukon.

Grizzly bears once ranged as far east as the Mississippi River, and as far south as central Mexico. Today, it's considered a threatened species in much of the U.S., and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) lists Western grizzlies as a species of special concern. The prairie population is considered extinct in Canada. 

A 2013 status report by COSEWIC estimated there were about 26,000 grizzly bears in Western Canada, with the majority of them in B.C. (approximately 15,000). Yukon had an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 grizzlies.

The federal government says loss and fragmentation of habitat is one of the biggest threats to Canada's grizzly population. A naturally low reproductive rate adds to the population's vulnerability. 

"Even within the Yukon, there are areas where they may be doing better than in other areas. And part of the plan is trying to look at ways that we can monitor the situation," Jung said.

"So we're trying to be proactive here."

 2013 status report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) estimated there were about 26,000 grizzlies in Canada, about a quarter of them in Yukon. (Government of Yukon)

Online survey

Environment Yukon, along with the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, is asking Yukoners to fill out an online survey about grizzlies. It asks about people's experiences hunting the bears, or seeing them in the wild. It also asks opinions about bear conservation and protection.

"Grizzly bears are kind of a species of national interest, and so if there's going to be a national recovery plan — as it's a species of special concern — then we want [Yukon's] plan to be able to inform the national discussion," said Tecla Van Bussel of the Fish and Wildlife Management Board.

"We're hoping to hear from folks across the territory ... and make sure it's representative of everyone's perspectives."

The survey asks about specific issues, such as roadside hunting and camping restrictions, but Jung said the resultant management plan "may not get down into the weeds".

"It's meant to really be a foundation, or framework, piece that we can use to manage bears from, so that when we do hit certain issues that we want to discuss ... that we have this piece and we can [look] back and see whether our actions are consistent with our overall management direction." 

The deadline to fill out the online survey is Saturday.

• Wildlife officials seem 'busier than normal' with bears around Whitehorse
• Stop feeding and gawking at roadside bears, Yukon groups urge

PREDATOR DEFENSE Chief Brooks Fahy sent me this NATURE COMMUNICATIONS STUDY that puts forth a new hypothesis regarding top down trophic predators and smaller mesopredators in a given natural system----THE ENEMY CONSTRAINT HYPOTHESIS suggests that the "suppression of mesopredators is strongest where top predators occur at high densities(in the core territory of the trophic predator) over large areas and weakest toward the edge of the top predator's range"...................One of the authors of this study is the co-author of THE LANDSCAPE OF FEAR paradigm, Bill Ripple........As readers of this blog recall, the Landscape of Fear suggests that prey animals are prevented from damaging plant assemblages in an ecosystem by being kept on the move and by the presence of the top down predators that they evolved with over millenium.............Remove that top predator, and various tree, shrub and flower species either go extinct or are greatly compromised where the prey species roams........Logical and "gut instinctive" both paradigms are in their explanations of why all of natures design needs to be present for optimum biodiversity to occur on our planet

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15469

Top predators constrain mesopredator distributions

• Thomas M. Newsome
• , Aaron C. Greenville
• ,

•  Duško Ćirović
• , Christopher R. Dickman
• ,

•  Chris N. Johnson
• , Miha Krofel
• , Mike Letnic
• ,

•  William J. Ripple
• , Euan G. Ritchie
• ,

•  Stoyan Stoyanov
•  & Aaron J. Wirsing

• Nature Communications 
• December, 15, 2016

Abstract

Top predators can suppress mesopredators by killing them, competing for resources and instilling fear, but it is unclear how suppression of mesopredators varies with the distribution and abundance of top predators at large spatial scales and among different ecological contexts.

Gray Wolf in Yellowstone Park keeping a Western Coyote
from it's Elk kill

 We suggest that suppression of mesopredators will be strongest where top predators occur at high densities over large areas. These conditions are more likely to occur in the core than on the margins of top predator ranges.

 We propose the Enemy Constraint Hypothesis, which predicts weakened top-down effects on mesopredators towards the edge of top predators’ ranges. Using bounty data from North America, Europe and Australia we show that the effects of top predators on mesopredators increase from the margin towards the core of their ranges, as predicted. Continuing global contraction of top predator ranges could promote further release of mesopredator populations, altering ecosystem structure and contributing to biodiversity loss.

a) On the edge of a top predator's range, mesopredator abundance should decline as top predator abundance increases. The breakpoint for the mesopredator indicates where their abundance starts to become close to zero. The breakpoint for the top predator indicates where their abundance starts to decline sharply on the edge of the range.

 A breakpoint is not necessary for the ECH to hold, but it may be indicative of a key threshold where there is a sharp change in top predator or mesopredator abundance, and is therefore useful to assess. (b) The relationship in a should manifest where mesopredators overlap spatially with the edge of a top predator's range, with the relationship potentially applying more widely to other predator dyads that strongly interact and compete for similar resources, or even to any strongly interacting competitive species dyads (‘enemies’) including relationships involving parasites or pathogens.

Gray Wolves chasing and ultimately killing a Western Coyote

----------------------------------------------------------------
JOURNALS OF THE LEWIS & CLARK EXPEDITION

Clark reporting:

thursday 11th Septr. 1806

a heavy Cloud and wind from the N W. detained us untill after Sunrise at which time we Set out and proceeded on very well, passed the nemahar [1] which was low and did not appear as wide as when we passed up. Wolf river [2] Scercely runs at all, at 3 P. M we halted a little above the Nadawa river [3] on the S. Side of the Missouri to kill Some meat that which we killed a fiew days past being all Spoiled. Sent out 6 hunters they killed and brought in two Deer only, we proceeded on a fiew miles below theNadawa Island and encamped on a Small Isld. near the N. E. Side, [4] haveing Came 40 Miles only to day, river rapid and in maney places Crouded with Snag's. I observe on the Shores much deer Sign— 

Lewis & Clark encountered Gray Wolves

and Western Coyotes in the West and Gray Wolves

keeping Coyotes off their Elk and Pronghorn kills

   the [mosquitoes?] are no longer troublesome on the river, from what cause they are noumerous above and not So on this part of the river I cannot account. Wolves were howling in different directions this evening after we had encamped, and the barking of the little prarie wolves resembled those of our Common Small Dogs that ¾ of the party believed them to be the dogs of Some boat assending which was yet below us.    the barking of those little wolves I have frequently taken notice of on this as also the other Side of the Rocky mountains, and their Bark so much resembles or Sounds to me like our Common Small Cur dogs that I have frequently mistaken them for that Speces of dog—    The papaws nearly