Yes, coyotes will eat other coyotes, though it’s uncommon and typically happens under specific circumstances. Cannibalism in coyotes is not a regular feeding behavior but rather a response to territorial conflict, starvation, or opportunistic scavenging on an already-dead animal.
When and Why Coyotes Turn on Their Own
Coyotes are highly adaptable omnivores that eat everything from rabbits and rodents to fruit, insects, and garbage. Turning to another coyote as food sits at the extreme end of that flexibility. The most common scenario involves a coyote scavenging the carcass of one that’s already dead, whether from vehicles, disease, or other causes. Coyotes are efficient scavengers, and a dead coyote represents calories just like any other carcass.
Active killing followed by consumption is rarer but documented. Field research at the University of Massachusetts found direct evidence of a coyote killed by other coyotes in a study area where coyotes, bobcats, and gray foxes all competed for resources. These lethal encounters between coyotes are typically territorial. Male coyotes defending a home range may attack and kill intruding coyotes, and in some cases, the aggressor or other coyotes in the area will feed on the remains.
Starvation also plays a role. During harsh winters or in areas where prey populations crash, coyotes become less selective. A starving coyote encountering a dead or weakened member of its own species is more likely to feed than walk away.
How This Compares to Other Wild Canids
Cannibalism is not unique to coyotes. Wolves regularly kill coyotes in areas where the two species overlap, and wolves have been documented killing and occasionally eating other wolves during territorial disputes. The behavior exists across many carnivore species. In the same UMass study that documented coyote cannibalism, researchers also found evidence of bobcats consuming other bobcats and gray foxes eating gray foxes. Killing competitors and sometimes consuming them appears to be a widespread, if infrequent, pattern among wild carnivores.
What sets coyotes apart is their extreme dietary flexibility. Unlike wolves, which rely heavily on large prey, coyotes exploit dozens of food sources. This means they rarely face the kind of desperate food scarcity that would push cannibalism from rare to routine. When it does happen, it’s more often opportunistic scavenging than predatory killing.
Territorial Killing vs. Feeding
It’s worth separating two behaviors that often get lumped together. Coyotes kill other coyotes far more frequently than they eat them. Territorial aggression between coyote packs or between resident coyotes and lone intruders is well documented and can be lethal. You can sometimes hear it happening: prolonged, aggressive group vocalizations followed by yelping suggest a confrontation.
After a territorial kill, the attacking coyotes may or may not consume the carcass. Sometimes the body is left intact, which suggests the killing was about eliminating a competitor rather than securing a meal. Other times, partial consumption occurs, particularly of soft tissue. And in other cases, different coyotes may scavenge the remains days later, well after the original conflict.
Disease Risks From Scavenging
When coyotes do eat other coyotes, they risk picking up whatever pathogens the dead animal carried. Parasites like tapeworms, roundworms, and the mites that cause sarcoptic mange can all transfer through contact with or consumption of infected tissue. Rabies virus can also be present in the tissues of an infected coyote, though transmission through ingestion is far less efficient than through a bite.
One disease researchers have specifically studied in this context is chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological illness caused by misfolded proteins called prions that affects deer and elk. Coyotes frequently scavenge deer carcasses in areas where CWD is present, and researchers wanted to know whether coyotes could spread the disease. The findings were somewhat reassuring: coyotes that consumed CWD-infected material showed no signs of infection themselves. However, the prions remained infectious after passing through the coyote’s digestive system, meaning coyote feces could potentially deposit CWD prions in new locations. This matters less for coyote-on-coyote feeding specifically, but it illustrates how scavenging behavior, including cannibalism, can move pathogens through an ecosystem in unexpected ways.
How Often It Actually Happens
There are no reliable estimates of how frequently coyotes eat other coyotes across their range, but every indication is that it’s rare relative to their total diet. Studies analyzing thousands of coyote stomach contents and scat samples consistently find rodents, rabbits, deer (mostly scavenged), fruit, and insects as the dominant food items. Coyote remains show up occasionally but never as a significant dietary component.
The behavior is real and documented, but if you’re picturing coyotes routinely hunting each other, that’s not the picture the evidence supports. It’s an edge case driven by conflict, opportunity, or desperation, not a normal part of how coyotes feed.