Coyotes stage comeback in Florida as residents report surge in sightings

Coyotes largely vanished from the eastern US 12,000 years ago but began expanding their range into north-western Florida in the 1970s. Photograph: Greg Cruthis/Getty Images/500px

From dwindling numbers of manatees, to Everglades critters decimated by invasive Burmese pythons, Florida has become more familiar in recent years with losing its native wildlife than gaining it.

But a surge in the number of coyote sightings around the state is raising eyebrows, and in some places concern, as the species known as barking dogs spreads further into the state.