Now that the ice is melting on The Pond the coyote is usually leaving the sanctuary from the southwestern corner.  Tonight, a little later than expected, it left and headed north to explore the park for the evening.

I watched Hallett Sanctuary tonight from the path near Cop Cot, hoping to see the coyote exit.  I missed the exit, but saw it walk north on the path to the west of the sanctuary and was able to follow it up to Chess and Checkers before losing track of the coyote.  The coyote moved so quickly, there wasn't a moment to pull out my camera.

Two days ago, a coyote was seen along the Hudson from 23rd to the 50s.  It's possible that this was the Central Park coyote, but it could also be another animal.  There is a video of police officers acting like Keystone cops trying to capture this animal online.  (The video is not safe for work.  The police officers use strong profanity.)  Our tax dollars at work!

(The text that accompanies the video described coyotes terrorizing the Columbia campus.  They did nothing of the sort.  The campus police may have whipped up some hysteria, but by all accounts the coyotes did their best to avoid people.)

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has ultimate authority over controlling wild animals in the city.  They work in conjunction with the Parks Department, Animal Care & Control (a non-profit that gets city funding) and the NYC Police Department.

Although, New York City already has lots of coyotes in the Bronx, the NYS DEC doesn't have a a good action plan for how to deal with them.  As coyotes enter urban areas, residents need to be educated on how to co-exist with them (keeping pets indoors, controlling trash, not feeding them, etc.) and wildlife managers need to be trained to properly evaluate animals, so resources are only used controlling aggressive or diseased coyotes.  (Although in the case of Manhattan, an argument can be made that it is not an appropriate place for large mammals like coyotes or deer.)

Unfortunately, due to the reliance on Animal Care & Control (which is having financial problems, like many non-profits), the under funding of the Parks Departments Urban Park Rangers (whose current mission is largely educational and whose jurisdiction is limited to city parks), and a Police team more used to hostage situations then animal control there is a real void when it comes to wildlife management in New York City's agencies and poor inter-agency coordination.

My hope is that with coyotes getting attention in Manhattan some real discussions will get started in the city this spring.

I was recently asked by a reporter if I thought the coyote should stay in Central Park.  I answered that I didn't know for sure.  I had heard good arguments supporting each of the various options.

I've collected some questions:

• What does the current research about coyotes in urban areas tell us?
• How does the raccoon rabies outbreak influence the health of the Central Park coyote?
• What are the legal ramifications for the Parks Department should they "protect" coyotes?
• If, like the Cook County study suggests, coyotes should be euthanized rather than moved when they become too accustomed to people, who in NYC is qualified and has the jurisdiction to make these choices? 
• When is NYC too urban?  Can Central Park support a coyote?  What about a pack? 
• What educational efforts are needed in areas like Riverdale where coyotes are now commonplace?
• Can a coyote have a satisfactory life in Central Park or is it cruel not to relocate it?
• If animals need to be relocated is there a more humane way to capture them then using a large police team?
• Does worrying about coyotes, which are considered vermin upstate, take staff time away from government workers who should be worried about more endangered species?
• What are the advantages of having coyotes in NYC?
• If we recognize that we are going to have a coyote population in NYC what rehabber support is going to be needed?  And animal control staff?  What do other urban areas have?
• What rat poisoning issues does having coyotes in the park raise?  Is there a preferred poison to protect coyotes and is this also good for raptors?
• If after all these issues are discussed and coyotes are appropriate for NYC, how do we influence media and governmental agencies to educate the public about coyotes and how to interact appropriately?
• If coyotes are not appropriate for the city, how do we euthanize them or relocate them?

I'm looking forward to being better educated in the weeks to come.  Right now, I have to admit, I'm just a naturalist photographer who has good instincts when it comes to tracking a single Central Park coyote.

Tonight, I got to follow the coyote outside of the Hallett Sanctuary area.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the coyote leave the southern exit of Hallett, jump onto the path and go up the stairs towards Sixth Avenue.  I couldn’t see where the coyote went, but assumed it was up to Cop Cot, so I followed up that path.

In the winter from Cop Cot, you can see a good distance, and I was able to see the coyote south of the playground.  It moved around a great deal.  It spent most of its time trying to stay away from people.  The coyote must enjoy 1 a.m. when the park is closed!

While I was keeping track of it, a woman stopped in the road with a confused look on her face.  There was a loose black Lab. which I thought was hers.  I said “Is that your dog?”  She said “No, but there is a dog without an owner over there.”  I said “That’s a coyote.”  She said, horrified, “Oh my God, it eats cats and dogs.  Do you want me to call 911?”  I said “No, the Parks Department already knows it’s here.” 

For at least five minutes, I kept asking myself who thinks there are pet cats in Central Park?  Did she think the wealthy on Central Park West and Fifth Avenue have their doorman put their cats out at night?

The Coyote was active early Monday evening, coming down to the north fence but retreating before even leaving Hallett.  The noise from the skating rink must have been too much for it.

Later in the evening, the Coyote played on the ice.  The Coyote made a few passes over the ice and at one point went onto the southern most path of the park.  Scared by some people it made a gigantic leap over the fences and shrubs to get back onto the ice.

Here are a few photographs from the evening and a very short slow motion clip.  This Coyote is hard to photograph in the dark!

The Central Park Coyote was hard to spot over the last few days.  On Friday, we only saw footprints in the fresh snow.  On Saturday, I didn’t see it.

On Sunday, I only saw it for only a few minutes.  It exited the hole in the northern section of the Hallett Nature Sanctuary fence and headed toward the west around 6:45 p.m.  The Coyote got spooked by some people, so it immediately came back to Hallett and then finally left for good about five minutes later.

I saw the Coyote for only a few minutes on Thursday evening while the weather switched between snow and rain.  The Coyote certainly does not like being near people.  If it sees you looking in its direction, it instantly moves away.  This bodes well for the Coyote.  If it can stay out of people’s way, there should be no need to remove it from the park.

I’m always surprised when people don’t expect there to be nature in New York City.  Given the expansion of Coyotes in the eastern United States, it was only a mater of time before we got another one wandering into Central Park.

If I look at my ancestors in America, they started as rural farmers, then moved to towns and then cities.  (Ironically my first ancestors, which date back from the 1640s, were from what is now Brooklyn.) The towns protected them from wild animals and as they moved to cities there was this added artificial concept of a “man-made world”, separate from the natural world.

The natural world never really left, but an illusion was created that nature had been tamed, as though somehow animals were as controlled as the city’s landscaped gardens.

When we have a Red-tailed Nest (the Trump Parc nest was only 300 yards from the Coyote), a Wild Turkey or a Great Horned Owl in the city, it makes news. While the wild animals captivate us, what really seems to excite us is the realization that despite our best efforts to create a “man-made world”, we’re still really living in the “natural world”.