Coyote sightings in NYC are surging — and mostly in Manhattan
The concrete jungle is turning into the ‘Wile E’ West.
Coyote sightings are surging in the Big Apple, with 35 so far this year — a four-fold increase compared to all of 2018, and a staggering six times the amount reported two years ago, according to Parks Department data obtained by The Post.
Manhattanites have reported more coyote encounters than any other borough — 26, compared to four in Queens and five in the Bronx.
But the beasts don’t just hang out anywhere in the borough — they prefer uptown living.
Central Park has become a coyote haven, with at least 12 sightings so far this year, the data shows.
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Park patrons have eyed coyotes skulking in the Ramble, and strolling near Belvedere Castle, and other prime spots, including The Great Hill, Poet’s Walk and the western side of the Reservoir
But encounters are sometimes a bit too close for comfort.
Such as on June 3 at around 11:30 p.m., when a particularly hotheaded coyote “charged at” someone in Central Park, according to the Parks data.
“I made noises and it ran,” the eyewitness told the agency.
Another park-goer said a coyote emerged from a wooded area on April 22 at around 5 a.m. and, “started coming towards me. I stood quiet and said to myself, please . . . go away. “
It did.
“I was in awe,” the person added.
Often, park-goers are walking their pooches when the wild beasts approach.
That was the case on May 7 at around 11 p.m. when a dog-walker reported a coyote “followed us a bit to the edge of Bridle Path.”
And in March, a pup’s growl may have repelled a curious coyote that approached a “concerned” dog owner just north of the Reservoir, the data show.
“That’s nuts,” said Ian Fitzgerald, 26, a Broadway actor hanging out in Central Park on Friday. “We’re used to raccoons and squirrels and stuff, but something of that capacity is scary.”
Experts are scratching their heads about the sudden spike, insisting there aren’t more coyotes living in the city than the previous two years.
“I would guess it’s just more eyes in Central Park,” said Carol Henger, of Gotham Coyote, a group that tracks the creatures. “It’s such an unusual thing to see a coyote there, so if there tends to be one a lot of people take notice.”
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The carnivores — which are most closely related to gray wolves —can weigh close to 50 lbs., stand over two feet tall, and sometimes lose their fear of humans. Earlier this month, one bit a mom and her 4-year-old son. A cop there shot and killed the animal.
But city officials have softened their approach to coyote control, as they have become more common since they were first spotted in the Bronx in the early ’90s.
“We don’t really want to remove a coyote just because it’s present,” Parks Wildlife Director Richard Simon explained. “You have to have a cost-benefit analysis when you’re sending a lot of police and helicopters to approach a coyote that’s basically afraid.”
NYPD Emergency Services Unit Deputy Inspector Stephen Finnegan said that in the Big Apple, the coyotes, like all other creatures calling the city home, are a natural part of the ecosystem “and should be left alone if spotted.”