Coyotes attack dogs in Golden Gate Park

{filename SHOWN: A young woman and her dog run past a coyote warning sign on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park. Reports of a coyote attacking a dog in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA. (Katy Raddatz/The Chronicle) ** Mandatory credit for the photographer and the San Francisco Chronicle. No sales; mags out. less {filename SHOWN: A young woman and her dog run past a coyote warning sign on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park. Reports of a coyote attacking a dog in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA. (Katy Raddatz/The ... more Photo: Katy Raddatz Photo: Katy Raddatz Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Coyotes attack dogs in Golden Gate Park 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

San Francisco officials posted warnings in Golden Gate Park on Sunday after the first known coyote attack in the city in decades, when a pair of the wild canines charged two leashed dogs on a small path in the park.

"We're taking this very seriously," said Deb Campbell, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Animal Care and Control Department. "We have officers looking for the coyotes, and we are letting the public know about these coyotes."

The attack occurred about 9 a.m. Saturday, when a woman was walking her two large dogs along a path just south of Speedway Meadow near a large pile of mulch. Two coyotes bit one of her dogs, leaving it with minor injuries, and lunged at the other, according to animal control officials.

Animal control officers were patrolling the park after the attack, posting signs on Sunday that alerted walkers, runners and cyclists about "coyote activity" near Speedway Meadow. On Sunday, a female dog-walker said two coyotes followed her in the same area, authorities said.

Many of the people walking dogs in Golden Gate Park on Sunday were surprised to hear about the coyotes.

"I know there are coyotes in the Oakland hills, but how did they get to Golden Gate Park?" asked Joe Contreras of Oakland as he walked his Chihuahua near Stow Lake. "I wonder if we'll ever see them at Lake Merritt."

The California Department of Fish and Game will assist local officials in an effort to find the animals and determine how much they threaten public safety.

Jamie Ray, director of the San Francisco Rescued Orphan Mammal Program, has studied the city's coyote population since the animals returned to San Francisco a few years ago. She said coyote attacks on humans or dogs are rare.

Generally, coyotes prefer to hunt small rodents such as squirrels, rabbits, rats and mice, said Ray. But in Saturday's attack, the coyote bit a Rhodesian ridgeback, a large type of dog that can weigh more than 100 pounds and was originally bred to hunt lions.

"There's no way that a coyote would try to eat a ridgeback," Ray said. "They are so timid. If you give them five seconds, they will usually run."

Campbell agreed: "We thought if we saw a coyote attack a dog, it would be a little one like a Chihuahua because (coyotes) don't tend to go after large prey."

Ray speculated that the coyotes in Golden Gate Park were a breeding pair and that Saturday's attack may have been an effort to protect their young.

"This might have been a defensive measure" because the dogs got too close to a den with coyote pups, Ray said.

City officials and wildlife researchers estimate that about five to eight coyotes live in San Francisco. These include at least two in Golden Gate Park and one on Bernal Hill. There have also been sightings in McLaren Park, Lake Merced and the Presidio.

Wildlife experts believe that human activity drove coyotes out of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, as more people began settling in the western portions of the city. But coyotes were spotted in the Presidio about seven years ago.

Researchers believe that coyotes, which can travel up to 45 miles in a day, returned to the city by traveling up the shoreline from undeveloped parts of San Mateo County along Ocean Beach. Researchers tracked the movements of a coyote in the Presidio with an electronic device and said it traveled to the Daly City area and back in one day.

The San Francisco sightings come as coyotes, which tend to hunt in the evening and early morning, have successfully adapted to human habitation and spread into undeveloped areas adjacent to cities and suburbs.

When Europeans settled America in the 17th century, coyotes were found mostly in the western United States. But in recent decades they have spread all the way to the East Coast and have infiltrated many major cities.

In April, a coyote attacked a toddler in New Jersey. In the past year, there have been sightings in Detroit and Chicago. And, since 2004, coyotes have lived in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park, only a couple miles from the White House, according to the National Park Service. Last year, authorities in New York City chased a coyote through Central Park for two days before catching it.

In Golden Gate Park on Sunday, Hector Bravo brought his wife, their three small children and the family Chihuahua on a daylong trip to the park from their home in Turlock (Stanislaus County).

"We walked all the way from the ocean to (Speedway) Meadow and picnicked in a remote area," said Bravo, as he pushed a stroller with his 7-month-old daughter. "Where we live, coyotes are all over, but I never expected to see them in San Francisco."

Gene Simone, who lives just north of the park, said he has seen the coyotes many times and has never felt concerned. He walks his schnauzer nearly every day near Stow Lake and Speedway Meadow.

"My dog has chased them, and they run away," Simone said. "They are really shy animals. I started seeing them about three years ago. I think they are beautiful. But you can't get within 20 feet of them. I'm stunned they would attack a dog. I hope (park officials) don't drive them out of the park."

COYOTE

Canis latrans

Length (head and body): 28 to 38 inches

Length (tail): 12 to 15 inches.

Shoulder height: 17 to 21 inches.

Weight: 20 to 35 pounds.

Females are about 20 percent smaller than males.

Behavior: Usually found as breeding pairs or solitary adult females. Pups are born in the den. Coyotes will take over old badger, skunk, or woodchuck burrows or dig their own dens. In urban areas, they are known to attack pet cats and dogs and occasionally a small child.

Diet: Opportunistic predator. Will feed on animals from squirrels to cattle, birds, rodents and insects, as well as carrion and garbage.

Sources: Department of Fish and Game; International Union for the Conservation of Nature