Return of the Wild

St. Mary's Park, San Francisco

Coyotes have taken over some areas in San Francisco. Some residents have taken to outfitting their dogs with spiked vests:

This is how it goes in San Francisco, where over 870,000 people and tens of thousands of dogs are learning to live in harmony with about 100 coyotes on 49 square miles of land. Coyotes in particular are highly visible in the patchwork of green spaces that break up this densely populated concrete expanse. Sightings are common, and confrontations occasionally occur, especially when dogs are involved.

...Beyond dog safety, there’s been concern recently about coyotes and children. In July, a coyote bit a 5-year-old girl who was attending a day camp in the San Francisco Botanical Garden. In response, U.S. Agriculture Department trappers shot and killed three coyotes in the park, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed using DNA testing that one of the animals was the one that nipped the child.

One hundred years ago San Francisco was determined to rid itself of coyotes and did so:

There was a period when coyotes were fully eradicated from San Francisco. “There were coyote killing competitions and bounties and poisoning,” [UC-Davis PhD candidate Tali] Caspi explained, as well as the runoff effects of urbanization destroying habitats. The last coyote spotted and officially recorded in San Francisco in the 20th century was in 1925 in Golden Gate Park.

But thanks to changing attitudes, new laws were passed that banned state and federal agencies from incentivizing animal killings. By the 1970s and ’80s, the coyote population began inching up again in California. In 2002, coyotes began to return naturally to San Francisco, initially in the Presidio, and thrived. After all, while San Francisco may be a big city of concrete and speeding cars, it’s also prime coyote habitat, with pockets of overgrown green spaces and an abundant and novel food supply.

The situation is untenable. It's easy to foresee more attacks on dogs and children and the public outcry that will result.

Posting warning signs will only delay the inevitable.