SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Over the last two decades, coyotes triumphantly returned to San Francisco after being previously wiped out from the area in the early 20th century. Now that these native neighbors are back, what exactly have they been feasting on? It’s the question that University of California, Davis researchers aimed to answer in a new study recently published in Ecosphere. Between 2019 and 2022, scientists examined what coyotes within San Francisco were eating and how the city’s varying landscape and neighborhoods affected their diets. As it turned out, it’s “a lot of human-provided food,” according to Tali Caspi, the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. candidate with the UC Davis Department of Environmental Science and Policy. “Chicken is a really big diet item; we found it in 72% of the scat samples analyzed in the study.” Coyote overlooks San Francisco (Photo: Tali Caspi / UC Davis) To figure out what the urban coyotes' diets consist of, scientists collected more than 700 scat samples during the study period. The samples were brought to UC Davis’ Veterinary Genetics Laboratory for genotyping and DNA analysis. While chicken may at first be a puzzling reveal, Caspi notes that the DNA analysis does not differentiate between backyard chickens, takeout food from a dumpster or the contents of pet food. The next most popular food item for the SF coyotes is more straightforward: pocket gophers. This natural prey was found in around 57% of the study samples. Coyotes play in San Francisco (Photo: Tali Caspi / UC Davis) Pig was the second most popular human-sourced food item, researchers found. Other natural prey food sources include raccoons, rats and birds. Domestic cat was detected in 32 of the samples. In a rare find, a beached fin whale fed one coyote sampled. Where the coyotes roamed within San Francisco also played a part in their overall diets. The study showed that coyotes ate rats with the highest frequency in areas with the most restaurants. Likewise, consumption of human-sourced food items was highest in the most urban parts of the city. WATCH: Coyotes spotted near KRON4 captured on camera “Coyotes in more urbanized parts of the city, such as Telegraph Hill near Coit Tower or Bernal Hill, ate more human-sourced food than coyote neighbors with more green space, such as in the Presidio or Golden Gate Park,” researchers said. Scientists behind the study believe that the findings can help “inform and prioritize management strategies to protect native coyotes and reduce human-wildlife conflicts.” The published study can be read on Wiley.