Central Park Coyote On The Loose!

Hal, the Central Park coyote of 2006

It's been a few years since we last heard of a coyote on the loose in Central Park, though recently there was one spotted and captured in Harlem. But those carefree Coyote-less days are over—a reader just sent us an email, warning: "There's another coyote on the loose in Central Park. I walk my dog there at least twice every day and had heard from other dog owners that police were warning people to keep their dogs on leash at night because of a coyote. Well last night around 6:45pm I saw him with my own eyes—just inside the entrance at 7th Avenue and Central Park South. He came toward me from the east and stood on a big boulder gazing at my dog." The suspense!

After a 5-minute staredown, during which time 311 was called, the coyote walked away... but it's still on the loose. And with all those rabid raccoons in the area, are we going to be encountering coyotes foaming at the mouth soon? We've contacted the Central Park Conservancy and the Parks Department and will update with any statements when they get back to us.

As for the last Central Park coyote, named Hal—he ended dying up after his capture from a lethal combo of suffering stress in captivity and ingesting rodent poison.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in News on February 2, 2010 12:13 PM

Comments [rss]

jimchmst

Why can't we simply live and let live. I hope the police have much better things to do than terrorize a coyote that is trying to keep away from people. 7 million people scared to death by one coyote; he couldn't possibly eat enough people to raise the murder rate significantly

dbyolton

I took photographs of our current Central Park coyote last night. They're on my blog at:

http://urbanhawks.blogs.com/urban_hawks/2010/02/central-park-coyote.html

gprecs

I was just walking through Central Park on my Lunch and I'm pretty sure I saw this guy walking around the Tennis Center (at 96th Street) and saw him.

MrManhattan

As a former and (hopefully) future dog owner, this should scare me, but for now all I can think is: "How Cool Is This?"

Manhattan Island has become this friendly to actual (non-crackhead/Meatpacking Wannabe/Hipster) wildlife that there's a real coyote in Central Park???

When I came in the late '70's he would have been hunted down and eaten! (and I don't mean at Plato's or Manhole!)

youngpro

wow, that guy's beautiful. i hope the new one is caught and simply placed in the catskills.

i advise against letting him under any boulders there, lest he be squashed by that crazy roadrunner.

ides_of_march

Oh good, I have a crate of ACME rocket skates I want to unload.

BubbaScuppa

We just saw the little guy last night at around 11pm by the 90th Street/5th Avenue entrance. First we thought it was a loose dog -- then realized it looked more like a wild dog; a coyote when we saw him closer. We had our dog who is about the same size. Mostly, the coyote saw and avoided him and us. He was moving swiftly (coming from uptown)and wasn't at all aggressive as he came within 15' of us, heading south on the bridal path. Hope if he does get captured that they release him some place where he can roam free without an issue - some place upstate.

Out walking the dog

Glad to hear of this most recent sighting. I think the city is appropriately focused on trapping & vaccinating raccoons to stop the spread of rabies rather than on trapping coyotes. Rabid raccoons are much more dangerous than a few rat-eating coyotes. I'll bet discussions are on-going, though, about how to handle what is likely to be a continuing issue of wildlife in the city. Fascinating! Oh and it's not always so easy to relocate wild animals, since desirable territory is usually occupied and newcomers are under threat from established animals.