NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- New York parks officials say a coyote captured in the Harlem neighborhood was the third one spotted in the borough of Manhattan in the past decade.

Police said they received a call about the coyote wandering the streets about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. An emergency service unit tranquilized the animal and took it to the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo, CNN reported Thursday.


"The coyote is under evaluation and observation," society spokeswoman Mary Dixon said.

Dixon said the animal, a female between 1 and 2 years old, will eventually be sent to a rescue center or returned to the wild.

New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said coyotes are known to visit Manhattan, the heart of the United States' most populated urban center, but only rarely.

"This is actually the third coyote that has been seen in the last 10 years," Benepe said.

Benepe speculated the coyote may have wandered into Manhattan via the Amtrak rail corridor or by swimming across the Hudson River.