City park sees coyote attacks rise

An increase in coyote attacks on people in Vancouver’s parks has been blamed on the animals consuming discarded drugs.

More than 30 attacks have been reported recently in densely forested Stanley Park compared with fewer than 10 a year across Canada and the US a decade ago.

Professor Shelly Alexander of Calgary University said that numerous factors, including ingestion of hard drugs found by the coyotes discarded in rubbish, could be responsible for the surge in incidents.

“The behaviour of some of these individuals suggests they’ve ingested toxins and or drugs, possibly opioids.”

A 69-year-old man was bitten on Tuesday in the latest attack.