CHICAGO (WGN) — Chicago is a city of nearly 3 million people, 77 neighborhoods and 1,700 coyotes.

“The ghosts of the city, they’re out there,” said Stanley Gehrt, an Ohio State University professor and researcher. “They’re basically invisible to us.”

Gehrt has spent more than a quarter century not only seeing them but also studying them since they first arrived in the area in the late 1990s.

“I assumed I would be here for one year. There would be nothing to study, and I would move on with my career somewhere else,” Gehrt said. “The last thing I expected to be studying here in the Chicago region was coyotes.”

To his amazement, he found a world of urban coyotes along with a fascinating question: Why are these predators of the wide-open western plains moving into densely populated cities?

The conventional wisdom held that humans were encroaching on wild habitats, forcing a migration to the metropolis, but Gehrt’s research found the opposite.

“That’s actually a case of coyotes moving into our domains, not the other way around,” he said. “Why is that? Once they move into the Chicago region, what we found, to our surprise, is that their survival rates are higher than they are out in the country or more rural areas.”

In rural areas, only 15% of coyotes survive one year; in Chicago, 65% do.

One reason: unlike rural areas, Chicago doesn’t allow hunting and trapping.

But even more important, the coyotes find plenty of food while helping to control the city’s rodent and rabbit populations.  And, surprisingly, they’re not eating human food.

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“Not only are they not eating it,” Gehrt said. “They’re avoiding it. Because it’s there. It’s present for them to take and they ignore it. They prefer the more natural foods because of their fear of us.”

These are some of the revelations in a scientific study that has lasted 26 years and counting.

Some basic questions were answered years ago:

  • What’s the coyote population?

    • In Chicago, 1,700. In Cook County, about 2,000.

  • Where do they live?

    • Cemeteries, golf courses, and the Forest Preserves.

  • What do they eat?

    • Rabbits, rodents, squirrels and natural berries.

  • Are they a danger to humans?

    • The answer to that one is no. There are fewer than ten coyote attacks on humans annually across North America. Coyotes can, however, pose a danger to smaller pets.

“It generally happens in children six and under, and in areas where people are actively feeding them” said Chris Anchor, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s head wildlife biologist. “As long as you stay arm’s length and don’t bother them, they’re not going to bother you.”

But after 26 years, researchers now have bigger questions: How have humans changed coyotes, and how have coyotes changed humans?

The McGraw Wildlife Foundation and the Forest Preserves of Cook County have funded Gehrt’s research, The Urban Coyote Research Project, as he’s worked closely with biologists Shane McKenzie and Anchor.  The coyotes have revealed themselves to be highly adaptable and intelligent animals.

“It’s always tricky to assign intelligence to wild animals,” Gehrt said.  “Yes, it helps explain why they’re so successful in a complete hostile environment.”

WGN News followed Gehrt and his team of researchers for more than a year to learn more about the elusive “ghosts of the city.”

The attached video shows researchers tracking, trapping, testing, and coyotes from December of 2005 to February of 2026.

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