The range of the coyote (Canis Iatrans) has been recorded as having its southern Limit in Mexico (prior to 1521) and northwestern Costa Rica (until around 1960). Deforestation has been proposed as the cause of its dispersal from Mexico to Costa Rica after 1521. However, the hypothesis is not supported by early records. Accounts of chroniclers and naturalists (from 1514 to 1910) shaw that the species was already established in southern Nicaragua as early as 1514 and that it was common in the rest of Central America at Least shortly afterwards. Apparently, coyotes reached western Panama in the last 25 years. They inhabit a wide variety of climatic areas and it is not satisfactory to claim that high temperature and humidity prevent them from colonizing the Caribbean versant of Costa Rica. In Central America, coyotes commonly live in packs, which suggests availability of large prey, but they are not known to prey on wild adult ungulates. However, ranchers report that coyotes sometimes devour sick or injured cattle. Rather than deforestation alone, an important barrier may be a lack of the appropriate combination of prey and open space (they are predominantly oriented by sight while hunting). A map of potential areas of colonization in South America is included, together with comments on the possible impact of these carnivores on the cattle economy of that area.
