Territories & Population in SF

Summer 2025 Update:

Click here for the full article on the update: https://coyoteyipps.com/2025/08/12/sf-coyote-territorial-map-and-family-situations-to-summer-2025/. Here are some points to keep in mind about the territories:

  1. Coyote population in San Francisco is self-regulated through their territoriality.
  2. [Edited Spring 2024] My original map below was first published in 2021. At that time I knew of 15 territories, but estimated we might have as many as 20. Now, Summer 2025, my update (see above) has not changed a whole lot. I’ve included two updated maps (see above). The first one is the territorial map I’ve been working on. But the second one more accurately conveys that the territories cover the entire city: coyotes can indeed be seen on every inch of San Francisco’s surface, but also shows that WITHIN those territories, you only have the ONE family, consisting mainly of Mom and Dad, newborn pups, and possibly several yearlings born the previous year.
  3. working on territory map update adding SG jpg This was my original 2021 map.
  4. Territories are owned and occupied by just one family.
  5. Outsider coyotes are kept out of these territories with few exceptions.
  6. Each territory within San Francisco is about 2.5 square miles.
  7. Each territory has been fairly stable since I first observed them, some since 2007, some since 2014, with minor exceptions. 
  8. Families consist of the alpha pair (Mom and Dad), pups born this year, and possibly a couple of yearlings from last year’s litter. There are variations, and a few exceptions as discussed below.
  9. This map and the work behind it has been assembled by me, visually, working alone up until this year, using my facial recognition of coyotes, and through documenting their behaviors and family life — I know each of these families and the relationships (and often ages) of the coyotes within the families, and can identify them — without tags or radio collars. Mine is a private passion. I have not been associated with any agencies, and I’m not paid for my work.
  10. I’ve been collecting scat since 2008 for DNA analysis at Dr. Benjamin Sacks’ Genetics Lab at UC Davis to confirm the relationships I’ve seen, dispersals, and origins. Last year my project was turned into a collaborative effort, joined by Monica Serrano who is analyzing the DNA, and Tali Caspi who is also collecting scat for a diet study: both students are PhD candidates working with or through Dr. Benjamin Sacks’ lab at UC Davis.
  11. **I want to emphasize that this posting is about what the situation is now and what it has been, I’m not predicting what it will be moving forward, but this is what we had when I first posted this in the Summer of 2021. You can see the updated maps as of April 2024.

For original 2021 article, click on the embedded article below, or go to: https://coyoteyipps.com/2021/07/14/territories-and-population-in-san-francisco/

Territories and Population in San Francisco

© All information, maps, and photos in my postings come from my own original and first-hand documentation work which I am happy to share, with permission and with properly displayed credit: ©janetkessler/coyoteyipps.com.