Data from: Poor health is associated with use of anthropogenic resources in an urban carnivore

Rates of encounters between humans and wildlife are increasing in cities around the world, especially when wildlife overlap with people in time, space and resources. Coyotes (Canis latrans) can make use of anthropogenic resources and reported rates of conflict have increased in cities across North America. This increase may be linked to individual differences in the use of human food and developed areas. We compared the relationships between coyote age, sex or health and the use of anthropogenic resources, which we defined as using developed areas over large home ranges, being active during the day, and consuming anthropogenic food. To do so, we applied GPS collars to 19 coyotes and sampled hair for stable isotope analysis. Eleven coyotes appeared to be healthy and eight were visibly infested with sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiei), a mite that causes hair loss. Diseased coyotes used more developed areas, had larger monthly home ranges, were more active during the day, and assimilated less protein than coyotes that appeared to be healthy. We speculate that anthropogenic food provides a low-quality but easily accessible food source for diseased coyotes, which in turn may increase reliance on it and other anthropogenic resources to promote encounters with people.全球城市区域内，人类与野生动物的相遇频次正持续攀升，尤其当二者在时间、空间与资源利用上出现重叠时，该现象更为显著。郊狼（Coyotes, *Canis latrans*）可利用人为活动衍生的资源，目前北美各城市报告的人-郊狼冲突发生率均呈上升趋势。此类冲突的增加或与个体在人类食物与建成区域利用行为上的差异相关。本研究针对郊狼的年龄、性别与健康状态，及其对人为资源的利用模式之间的关联开展对比分析，其中人为资源利用被定义为：拥有大面积家域、日间活动频繁，以及摄入人为来源食物。为完成该分析，我们为19只郊狼佩戴了GPS项圈，并采集其毛发样本用于稳定同位素分析。其中11只郊狼外观健康，另有8只明显感染了由疥螨（Sarcoptes scabiei）引发的疥螨病，该螨类可导致脱毛症状。相较于健康个体，感染疥螨的郊狼对建成区域的利用程度更高，月均家域面积更大，日间活动更为频繁，且摄入的蛋白质水平更低。我们推测，人为来源食物虽品质较低，但对于感染疥螨的郊狼而言却是易于获取的食物来源，这可能会促使它们进一步依赖此类食物及其他人为活动衍生资源，进而提升与人类相遇的概率。