City reveals experts' advice on fending off coyote problems downtown
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An independent third-party panel has made several immediate recommendations as part of its report back on the city’s approach to coyote issues in Fort York and Liberty Village.
The panel of seven experts conducted a review of the city’s response to coyotes in those areas between November 2024 and March of this year. They determined that the city’s approach aligns with “best practices on coyote management in other North American cities while also identifying the issues are consistent with food-conditioned behaviour,” the city said in a news release issued Tuesday.
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City reveals experts' advice on fending off coyote problems downtown Back to video
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According to city officials, as many as four coyotes in the downtown area have “learned to associated humans with food because of direct and indirect feeding.”
Aggressive behaviour toward dogs was also found by the expert panel to be “typical and timed with the reproductive season,” the city added.
The panel recommended that hazing (such as employing loud voices or noises) continues and that the city takes measures to add resources to recondition the animals “in line with proven, long-term intervention strategies.”
There have been numerous reported coyote attacks in recent weeks.
Among the immediate recommendations was for the city to procure a specialized team to assess these coyotes, “apply adapted aversion techniques, monitor results and report back” to city staff.
The city is also advised to remove human food sources by continuing the enforce no dumping and no wildlife feeding bylaws, repair fences and improve lighting and sightlines, and increase community education for the public about “how dumping, wildlife feeding and dogs off leash impact coyote activity.”
In its news release, the city said it “understands the urgency of this matter and is committed to completing all recommendations during this process.”
City officials thanked area residents for their patience.
“If animal behaviour changes in a way that affects public safety, the city will consider a range of further actions,” it said.
Over the past four months, city staff said there have been daily patrols in the affected areas and staff are “conducting aversion to retrain the coyotes.”
The expert panel noted that coyotes in Fort York and Liberty Village are being accidentally and intentionally fed via improperly disposed household waste, human food provided to wildlife, litter and food being made available at encampments, along rail lines and at construction sites.
The experts said that the defensive behaviour exhibited by coyotes towards dogs that get too close “aligns with expected territorial behaviour during mating season and competition for food.”
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