Coyote killed after rushing toddlers in Golden Gate Park

Federal wildlife officials killed a coyote that had charged at toddlers in five incidents in the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, city animal control officials said Friday.

Officials with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, killed the male coyote on Friday after officials said it had shown aggressive behavior toward toddlers on five known occasions dating back to the fall of 2020, said Virginia Donohue, executive director of San Francisco Animal Care & Control.

Donohue said San Francisco animal control authorities regularly receive reports of coyote sightings across the city but that these were the only reports that involved a coyote approaching or charging toward a toddler. Two incidents were reported in the fall and three happened in June, she said.

“This is completely unique. It has not happened with another coyote ... that we know of,” Donohue said.

Authorities with San Francisco animal control and San Francisco Recreation and Park Department called on federal experts to evaluate the animal’s behavior. Federal officials decided that the coyote had “become a serious threat to public safety” and was “lethally removed,” city animal control officials said.

The coyote had distinctive features, including a scar on its snout. It had been prowling in various San Francisco neighborhoods since 2016, Donohue said.

Before these five incidents, the coyote had not displayed aggressive or “inappropriate coyote behavior,” Donohue said. But city animal control officials had received reports of people feeding the coyote and had also witnessed people feeding the animal. Donohue said he had been fed by humans on a “very regular, very extreme basis” since at least 2016, which had desensitized the animal to people.

“So, this all is coming about because people have fed wildlife. People need to stop feeding wildlife,” Donohue said. “You might think you’re doing them a favor, or helping them, but you’re not. They’re wild, and they need to stay wild.”

Donohue said there are likely dozens of coyotes in San Francisco, but said it is very uncommon for a coyote to approach a human.

It is illegal to feed wildlife and anyone who is caught doing so could face fines and jail time, city animal control officials said.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2020 A woman pushes her children through S.F. Botanical Garden.