City moves forward with coyote research study

Oct 13, 2026 7 min read

By MEGHAN BRADBURY

The Sanibel City Council last week moved forward with a University of Florida research study to learn more about the coyote population on the island.

Vice Mayor John Henshaw voted against the study.

The cause of the deprivation rate of sea turtle nests is the principal objection of the study, as the island has seen significantly higher percentages than the 10% federal recovery limit.

“My issue is the money and does it get at the issue directly, as close as we can get to it? It’s not the science, gathering data, not measuring and understanding coyotes. How do we protect our turtles,” he said. “I have reservations about the study. We have a problem with our turtle nests. The deprivation rate is too high. Your study results won’t be available until ’28 — three more seasons before we can use that data. I am not sure residents will wait that long before shooting the animals, which I am not in favor of. I don’t know if we can wait that long and continue to have 30-40% (deprivation rate). That concerns me.”

Henshaw said he thinks it is a great study, a good design, but he is not going to vote to spend $200,000, even though you have to measure before you manage.

“The point is we have a problem with turtles,” he said. “The way the study is designed right now, it doesn’t get at that to spend $200,000.”

Councilmember Holly Smith said the reason they want to have the study done is to have a baseline to manage something they don’t know right now.

“It is what our citizens have asked for,” she said. “In ’15-’16 it was about human interaction. We have to measure before we can manage,” she said. “Real time can answer a lot of questions as we go forward.”

Natural Resource Director Holly Milbrandt said the study is intended to fill in the data gaps for knowledge related to coyote abundance, population structure and habitat use on Sanibel. She said they received one proposal from the University of Florida with a price tag of $241,980, which was later decreased to $206,850 after the city requested a reduced indirect cost rate.

The price includes two options — island and mainland coyote connection collected through scat for $9,231, and which coyote raided the nest through the collection of saliva and hair for $6,294.

Milbrandt said the goal is to have the first scat study completed this winter, as well as 12 coyotes collared, to see in real time how they are interacting on beaches and potential nests during the 2027 season. She said with the coyotes collared, a genetic study, and collection of scat will help fill in the picture of coyotes on the island.

Milbrandt said the seasonality is important as well, as coyotes have a big impact on the sea turtle nesting season, but how they exist when sea turtles are not nesting is just as important. She said the study will help give them the full picture of how they use their habitat in and outside of the sea turtle nesting season.

“It’s a fundamental question that will inform future management,” Milbrandt said. “We are trying to tackle this issue on a variety of fronts.”

The study will begin in November. The project team includes E. Hance Ellington from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Dr. Bryan Kluever, a research wildlife biologist with the USDA National Wildlife Research Center Florida Field Station and Antoinette J. Piaggio, with USDA genetics.

The city documented its first coyote in 2011. A 2015-2016 survey counted 34 coyotes. There were two coyote sighting reports reported in 2011, compared to 211 in the first nine months of 2026.

Kluever gave a presentation to discuss what the study would entail. He said coyotes are very adaptive, so being able to understand how they live on Sanibel is important.

Some of the questions the study will answer include — how many coyotes, in how many family groups; are they cut off from the mainland or resupplied; where and when do they hunt; and how genetically healthy is the population.

Kluever said if a population started by a couple of individuals, there can be inbreeding, which is genetically unhealthy.

Through a collared approach of 12 GPS coyotes, Kluever said they can collect data — location points- every 15 minutes, and record how fast they travel. The information collected will share when they rest, travel, search for food, and hunt and feed.

“The good news — an aspect of the study — is you are not going to be getting that information after a two-year period. It’s coming in real time,” he said.

In order to collar the coyotes, they will be caught in padded, certified traps during the winter months of January and February — cooler months. Adults that weight more than 26 pounds will be collared.

Kluever said they take the safety and well-being of the animals seriously, as wildlife is owned by the public.

“We have to take great care of animals that are in our hands,” he said of getting them in traps, out safely and back into the landscape of Sanibel.

Over the past three years 81 coyotes have been captured and ear-tagged with 60 GPS collars fitted, and zero deaths and broken bones of those captured.

“There is a plan in place. It has been tested — very low risk,” Kluever said.

He said the traps will be closed during the day.

Councilmember Laura DeBruce had questions regarding the length of time the caught coyotes would spend in a trap.

“A coyote could be trapped for up to 12 hours. That is a particularly long, cruel amount of time,” she said. “Can we check them more regularly?”

Kluever said there is technology out there that can be placed on the traps, which sends notifications when one is trapped. He said the error rates are incredibly high, and the technology is not great.

“The problem is trying to check the trap at 3 or 4 in the morning. We can’t work up the coyote with one person. That’s why we usually do the check first thing in the morning,” Kluever said.

He said although 12 collared animals is not the whole population, if one or two are responsible for 90% of the sea turtle nest losses, it would potentially give the city more rationale for giving targeted removal.

Kluever said by next season the city will receive some of the answers immediately.

“There is nothing wrong with using that collared information to influence a management action. Collaring data gives opportunities to test some deterrence strategies,” he said.

Kluever said they would tighten up the population estimate by dividing the island into several strata, as well as a focus on the capture efforts to where the coyote sightings happen most frequently. Another important aspect of the study includes two winter scat surveys in 2027 and 2028.

The study, he said, adds potential management options.

Next month the study will begin, and the collars will be ordered. In January and February trapping will begin and the first scat survey will be conducted. In January and February 2028, the collars drop off and the second scat survey will take place. The final report is expected in July 2028.

“The coyote collars are basically constructed on order. They tailer them to each project, about a two month turnaround time,” Kluever said. “Next nesting season you will be able to watch live, collared animals, and see what is going on in real time.”