Despite recent efforts to thwart Stanley Park's aggressive coyotes, the BC Conservation Officer Service has reported yet another attack.
On July 22, at approximately 9:30 p.m., a woman jogging along the seawall suffered minor injuries after she was bitten on the leg reported the COS. The service went on to say officers will be working in the park to help ensure public safety and conduct patrols over the next few days. Officers are working to locate and euthanize the specific coyote in the latest attack the service added.
This comes a week after four coyotes were captured and killed using "soft foot-hold traps". The recent action taken by the Conservation Officers and the City of Vancouver followed the news of a two-year-old girl also being bitten in the park. The COS has since reported the coyote responsible for the attack on the toddler was among the four killed.
The recent culling came under fire from Lesley Fox, Executive Director of The Fur-Bearers, a charitable organization that works to end the commercial fur trade. Fox called into question the officer's claim saying they wouldn't have been able to determine which coyotes were involved in all of the attacks.
Public officials respond by killing animals in the name of public safety — but it's a false sense of reassurance, she says.
The Stanley Park Ecological Society website tells park visitors never to feed coyotes and to shout, wave their arms or throw rocks or dirt near the animals if they appear curious or begin to approach.
With files from Elana Shepert
