The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council will consider possible new measures to protect residents and their pets from a growing number of coyotes at coyote management plan report Tuesday night.
So far there have already been around 650 reports of coyote sightings, where the animals have been seen wandering around neighborhoods.
During a recent council meeting about the problem, one woman said she was attacked by a coyote when she tried to keep it from snatching her dog.
“I ran down trying to get the coyote with a manure rake in my hand. Ran at the coyote -- it lunged and snapped at me,” she said. “If I had not had the rake in my hand and hit it on the nose I’m not sure what would have happened.”
For years the city has received reports of coyotes in the canyons, hanging around trails and walking down neighborhood streets. On its website the city makes it clear that coyotes are long-time inhabitants - around even before RPV was developed.
However, council members and residents are now hoping to escalate the removal of aggressive coyotes, who pose a threat to pets and children.
“While attacks on humans are rare, semi-rural landscape development, habituation through intentional and unintentional feeding, pet-related incidents, and media attention has led to more exposure to coyotes and resident safety concerns,” the council said.
“Attacks on free roaming and unattended small pets are normal coyote behavior and do not necessarily indicate a danger for people or an overly aggressive or habituated coyote...steps must be taken to address safety concerns and ensure appropriate responses to potential threats to human safety.”
The council will consider several recommended actions Tuesday night, including an update to the Coyote Management plan, a contract for private trapping services with Coyote, Wildlife & Pest Solutions and an option to authorize the Mayor to sign a letter requesting additional resources from California Supervisor Janice Hahn.
The council agenda also indicates an interest in a Coyote GPS Collar Program, which would allow researchers to collect data and study the movement of urban coyotes.
“The City of Rancho Palos Verdes has been in contact...to participate in the collar program in the months to come,” the council agenda said. “Rancho Palos Verdes would be the first city on the Peninsula to participate in the collar program. This would have no fiscal impact on the City and would be fully funded by the UCANR coyote GPS collar program.”
The UCANR Collared Coyotes program is currently being conducted in south-central Los Angeles County, Hacienda Heights and San Bernardino County. To view a map of active animals, click here.
In order to stay on top of sightings and reduce the risk to the public, the city has created a reporting feature. To report a coyote sighting or take a look at the sighting map, click here.
The coyote management plan report begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at McTaggart Hall at Fred Hesse Jr. Community Park via Zoom. The meeting will be live streamed on the city's website.