Two recent incidents at Elysian Park included a child bitten on an arm in May, and an attack archived by county officials under this description: “Child bitten while walking in park carrying small dog. Some scientists speculate that they may have involved a lone coyote that had lost all fear of humans.īut coyote attacks have continued at Elysian Park - perhaps, some experts suggest, because someone has been feeding the animals, resulting in a dangerous situation for people and pets, as well as coyotes. The motivation behind that string of attacks remains unclear. Victims included a jogger, a child who had been playing with friends and two people who were sitting on the ground and looking up at the stars. Twelve people were bitten there in 2015 alone, and most of those attacks were unprovoked, the department said. More recently, at least 69 people were bitten by coyotes in Los Angeles County between 20 - about half of them in communities east of downtown, according to the county Department of Public Health.Ībout 20% of those bites occurred in Elysian Park, just north of downtown. In calling for the eradication of coyotes, Mattucci and others point to a historical record of attacks, including the 1981 killing of a 3-year-old girl in Glendale - the only documented case in the country of a coyote killing a human. Keeping a dog on a leash generally reduces the risk of coyote attacks, wildlife officials say. Residents are also likely to see an increase in activity between early spring and the fall, when females begin giving birth to pups that remain with their mothers for about six months while learning to fend for themselves. During this period, state wildlife authorities say, coyotes are in search of a den and male coyotes may become more aggressive and territorial, which poses a risk to people and household pets. Mating season generally runs from late January to early March. In the short time National Park Service biologists tracked her movements via a GPS collar, her wanderings displayed strikingly unusual behavior for a species that is territorial.Ĭollared in northeast Los Angeles on Sept 23, 2015, C-146 traveled as far south as downtown via the Los Angeles River wandered throughout Elysian Park, near Dodger Stadium and ventured into the Westlake neighborhood, where she met an untimely fate in MacArthur Park. Scientists still talk about C-146, a female subadult coyote. They also tolerate the taste of candy wrappers, fast-food cartons and hiking boots. Her postmortem research into the contents stewing in the stomachs of urban coyotes that perished across Los Angeles and Orange counties under myriad circumstances revealed a smorgasbord of samplings: cottontail rabbits, birds, potato bugs, avocados, oranges, peaches, watermelon, cats and an occasional dog. “I doubt an urban coyote would survive very long in the wilds.” “Urban coyotes really are different than coyotes in wilderness areas,” she said. “But they fall on deaf ears in a room full of Evict Coyote red shirts.”Ĭoyotes have been tracked, spotted and photographed in virtually all developed areas of Los Angeles County, whether darting between headstones in a Boyle Heights cemetery, foraging through trash on a sandy South Bay boardwalk, or loping across a middle school athletic field in Paramount. “The coyote management practices we recommend are based on the best available science,” she said. Michelle Lute, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit Project Coyote, wouldn’t argue with any of that. “Partly, maybe mostly, because the ‘other side’ doesn’t want to even have a civil conversation.” “I feel like there’s common ground somewhere, I just haven’t been able to find it yet,” she said. “Personally, it’s unsettling - a little frightening, really - to see how fast untruths spread and get adopted, and by so many people,” said Rebecca Dmytryk, president and chief executive of the nonprofit National Assn. “People are frustrated with a coyote management issue that’s gone amok, and animal advocacy groups preaching an ideal that is unrealistic.” “The pendulum is shifting in a new direction,” said Steven Childs, a 46-year-old who created the website. Organized four years ago in Torrance, the group is active in such widespread communities as Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes, West Covina, Walnut, Bellflower, Downey, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Carson, San Dimas, La Verne, Glendora, Escondido and Fullerton. Instead, members file into government meetings clad in bright red T-shirts stenciled with the message “Evict Coyotes” and demand that officials enact tougher anti-coyote laws. Thank you for your support.Įxplore more Subscriber Exclusive content.Įvict Coyotes isn’t interested in the nonlethal hazing techniques promoted by animal advocacy groups, or the ecological importance of preserving a top predator within an urbanized food chain. Times subscribers special access to our best journalism. Subscribers get exclusive access to this story
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