As San Franciscans increasingly share videos, photographs, and first-hand accounts of coyote encounters on social media and at neighborhood gathering spaces, municipal officials encourage coexistence with the animals.
“Six months ago, while walking my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, I saw a coyote visit McKinley Square park in the middle of the day. The coyote walked in from 20th Street. I alerted other visitors in the park, who had children and small dogs playing in the park. Everybody picked up their kids and dogs and left,” said Gayle Maccia, a De Haro Street resident.
Last summer Maccia was chased by a pair of coyotes while walking her dog on 17th Street.
“I picked up my leashed dog and ran back to the building. The coyotes followed me up to the front door, which I slammed on them. They were watching me through the glass,” said Maccia.
Maccia called 311 about the incidents. A San Francisco Animal Care and Control (SFACC) representative called her back, but, according to Maccia, dismissed her concerns.
“All you get from these calls is, “Coyotes have a right to live here too.” There’s no common sense about how to protect children and animals other than for people to leave,” said Maccia.
Maccia would like the coyotes relocated; an action prohibited by state law.
Deb Campbell, SFACC spokesperson, said the agency receives daily calls about coyote encounters, with many reporting that the animals are becoming bolder.
“Right now, the younger coyotes are dispersing, and coyotes are frequenting new areas of the City. Coyotes that have been in the City for years have become used to people and most have been fed extensively. They’ve been conditioned to see people as potential sources of food and to not fear humans as much as they should,” said Campbell.
Project Coyote, a Larkspur-based nonprofit devoted to coyote research, has received more inquiries from the media and public about coyotes this year than previously, according to Camilla Fox, the organization’s founder and executive director. Frequent questions include whether there’s been an increase in conflicts between coyotes and people, and if so, what’s causing it, and whether San Francisco’s coyote population is growing.
“It’s hard to know if there is an overall increase in conflicts, as conflicts are generally very site specific to a given area…can vary year to year based on where coyotes are denning, raising their families as well as available resources. We…know that most conflicts with coyotes in urban areas are driven by human behaviors…intentional and unintentional feeding, off-leash dogs, which can lead to dogs chasing coyotes and disturbing den sites where coyote parents are trying to raise their young, and people failing to implement proper hazing of individual coyotes exhibiting habituated behaviors,” said Fox.
SFACC estimates there’s roughly 100 coyotes in the City.
“This figure has remained relatively stable over the years. Coyotes self-regulate their populations based on available food and habitat. If left unexploited, e.g. not trapped, shot or lethally removed, they will maintain a stable population by defending their territories from other coyotes. When coyote family groups are destabilized through lethal control, e.g. killing, this can create social chaos and lead to more females breeding at a younger age and more pups surviving to adulthood, essentially filling in the territorial vacuum. This is known as ‘compensatory reproduction,’” said Fox.
Coyotes may be preying on the City’s wild feline population.
“We’ve heard that coyotes have killed cats in feral colonies and don’t doubt it. But have no data to back that up. We’ve recommended that feral colony caretakers use raised feeding stations, where the cats are fed in a protected area of a raised platform, to eliminate the crowd of animals, mice, rats, skunks, raccoons, and opossums, that show up to also eat the cat food. Coyotes are attracted to the food, and they see all of those animals, including cats, as prey,” said Campbell.
A taxidermized coyote specimen is included in the California Academy of Sciences’ “California: State of Nature” exhibit, which opened in May. Cal Academy is collecting roadkill samples to learn more about coyotes’ diets and causes of death.
“Some information researchers are hoping to glean from the sample collection include coyotes’ stress and exposure to toxicants,” said Dr. Christine Wilkinson, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Cal Academy.
“If you look in academic publications, there are more articles and questions about how urban expansion is affecting natural environments and what animals tolerate to be near people. Animals like coyotes can get food more easily but is that food high quality?” said Farley Connelly, The Wildlife Society San Francisco Bay Area chapter president.
He encourages aspiring scientists to get a pair of binoculars and start watching wildlife. Birds tend to be more visible than large mammals like coyotes.
“All species are connected. You will likely learn information about or even see other animals as you observe,” said Connelly.
Mark Steensland 
Rebekah Moan 