The City of Huntington Beach has adopted a Coyote Management Plan aimed to support community education, public outreach, and utilization of a tiered response to aggressive coyote behavior.
What is this plan, and why is it important?
As an HB resident, you may have seen or know someone who has had a coyote encounter. The Coyote Management Plan will empower residents to understand what actions they can take and also what steps will be taken by the City. The Plan tells us why coyotes creep into neighborhoods searching for food, water, and shelter. The Plan also tells us how we can haze coyotes and make our properties less appealing.
Additionally, volunteers from the Huntington Beach Police Department were recently trained on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Watch Program (WWP). The program teaches volunteers strategies, techniques, and tools to mitigate human-coyote conflicts. The City will call upon this group of volunteers to canvas and educate neighbors in areas with coyote concerns. Volunteers will attend Neighborhood Watch meetings and help residents with “yard audits” to reduce potential attractants.
What can I do?
If you come in contact with a coyote exhibiting aggressive behavior, report it on the City’s Coyote webpage. Reporting coyote encounters helps the City to respond appropriately and the data can be used to plan ahead.
Conduct this simple Yard Audit to keep your yard free of coyote attractants.
NEVER feed a coyote!
Through knowledge, education, and enforcement, we can work together to increase our capacity to prevent and respond to wildlife incidents in our community.
