Officials are warning people to not feed coyotes in or near the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve following an increase in coyote activity and several recent human encounters.
Flyers have been posted in the area and community messages sent out by the California Department Fish and Wildlife via social media to spread the word.
“Recently, we have reason to believe that potentially there are people feeding coyotes in the nearby neighborhood or even on the wetlands edge,” said Melissa Borde, environmental scientist and reserve manager for CDFW. “What we’re looking for is the community support to educate others about not feeding wildlife.”
Officials believe the animals are being fed because they are “habituating” to humans and starting to approach without fear.
“Naturally, coyotes are fearful of humans,” Borde said. “The wildlife conflict incidents are increasing, we noticed, from the urban environment.”
The 1,300-acre coastal estuary is an important open space and coastal wetland with an estimated 800 species living there, including coyotes – they play an important role in helping keep the rodent population under control.
Coyotes are “opportunistic feeders,” feeding on anything from rodents to fruit, garbage and pet food.
“Historically, we had found meats out in the areas and we immediately did outreach,” Borde said. In an area off Graham and Bolsa Chica streets, there was evidence of someone who had put leftover meat in the lot. In a neighborhood near the wetlands, someone left behind steak.
“The one thing that I want to highlight is that the coyotes can be unpredictable and in some cases cause human injury,” she said.
Many attacks are directly related to food sourcing or human feeding.
“We don’t want that, we want visitors to feel safe when they’re here. We also want to protect the wildlife. So prevention is key. Even though humans sometimes think they’re doing good for wildlife, they are actually causing more…
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