Despite sometimes alarming reports of a growing coyote presence in pockets of the metropolis, Los Angeles animal services on Friday proposed little change in its approach to urban coyote management.

The revised coyote plan was requested by Los Angeles Councilman Joe Buscaino, whose district has been hard hit with coyote reports this year.

The 20-page document, which was posted online Friday by the city’s Department of Animal Services, calls for more community education along with more city wildlife staff and warning signs and covered trash cans to be placed in affected city parks — but no trapping or removal of coyotes.

It will be discussed at 9 a.m. Wednesday at a special meeting of the Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee in downtown Los Angeles.

Resists trapping trend

Breaking ranks with several surrounding cities such as Torrance that have moved toward targeted trapping and euthanizing coyotes in “hot spots” where pet kills and bold behavior have become problems, the department doubles down in its long-standing approach toward urban wildlife. Coyotes, animal services officials say, cause few problems that can’t be resolved with better coexistence training and compliance on the part of the city’s residents.

“The department strongly believes that the best approach to responsible coyote management or ‘control’ is ongoing education on how to coexist with indigenous wildlife.”

There are no recommendations for changes to city ordinances or policies, which include a City Council motion, passed unanimously, that already bans the use of leg, snare and other devices for trapping wildlife.

What is recommended is making more use of the state’s Wildlife Watch groups in which neighborhoods band together to make sure food, excess vegetation and other coyote attractants are removed.

Buscaino called it a “common-sense” approach that will help by also rolling out a “more robust public information campaign.

“I will continue to gauge the situation and the public comment and respond appropriately,” he said in a prepared statement Friday.

Some of the report won’t sit well with many affected residents, however.

“When I walked out my door (at 4 a.m. June 14) to go to work, there were five of them spread across my yard,” said Ted Marsh of San Pedro, who works at SpaceX in Hawthorne. “I’ve never seen anything like that in the past.”

Other residents, saying there has been a noticeable uptick in coyote activity this year, report seeing coyotes running — sometimes with cats in their mouths — through local neighborhoods.

While homeowners can hire private trappers, many have called on the city to be more proactive in what they see as a community health and safety issue that is under the municipality’s sphere of responsibility.

Trapping off the table

Trapping coyotes, however, isn’t something Los Angeles is willing to entertain. The city report states the practice is costly, inhumane and ineffective.

It is difficult to ensure, for example, that problem-causing coyotes will be located and killed. And even if they are, the report states, they’ll just be quickly replaced by others.

Elsewhere, the report states: “It is not the intention of the Department of Animal Services to remove wildlife from residential areas. Rather, the department is hoping to rectify most problems through neighborhood education and individual homeowner attention. This is a multitiered program designed to help neighborhoods better deal with wildlife issues, and further lessen contact with these animals by investigating changes in both human and wildlife behavior.”

Coyote management plans for Long Beach, Culver City and Calabasas were included in the staff review.

Rise in numbers questioned

The updated plan came out of rising complaints about frequent daytime coyote activity, including numerous reports of cat killings, in the Harbor Area over the past few months.

According to the city’s report, there is no evidence that the coyote population is increasing. Rather, it said, the issue has received more attention via social media, where some coyote sightings are being reported more than once.

In conferring with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Park Service, the report said, “there is a consensus that there has not been an increase in the number of coyotes in the communities. What all of the agencies are experiencing is an increase to the number of calls attributed to an increase in social media and how new voices now have easier means to express concerns. … It is nothing new.

“CDFW and NPS acknowledge that there is no scientific data that proves or disproves that there is an increase in coyote activity in urban communities.”

Coyote attacks rare

Other points included in the report:

• “Occasional attacks by coyotes on pets and coyote aggression toward people (although rare) can trigger alarm from people who fear for the safety of their pets and children.”

• “Attacks on dogs during the months of April-December are probably caused by coyotes that have lost their fear of people. This occurs when coyotes are being fed in residential areas and are not chased away by people”

The report also restates support for the state policy against relocating coyotes, saying it is “often a death sentence” for the relocated animals.