Dallas Animal Services (DAS) staff and the city’s urban biologist provided an update Monday on the City’s recently established Coyote Management Plan. The briefing, presented to city council members on the Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee, covered what has been accomplished so far, what is in progress, and what comes next in the city’s three-phase plan.
The plan was first launched in June in response to a coyote attack on a two-year-old Dallas resident in May, NBC 5 reported. The child was seriously injured but was expected to make a full recovery.
The goal of the management plan is to provide a standardized way to address coyote behavior and reduce conflicts involving humans and coyotes while prioritizing human safety.
Phase I of the Coyote Management Plan, completed July 8, included the establishment of a hotline for residents to report coyote sightings or incidents. Since the launch, the hotline has received over 800 calls from within city limits. More than 50 calls came from outside Dallas.
Since the attack in May, four coyotes have been removed from the area where the child was mauled. The animals were euthanized, and all four tested negative for rabies, NBC 5 reported. It is unknown whether any of the four coyotes were involved in the attack on the 2-year-old.
However, the City has no plans to euthanize coyotes on a large scale. One of the City’s guiding principles for the Coyote Management Plan is that “non-selective coyote removal plans are ineffective.”
“Lethal control programs may seem like a quick fix to problems among coyotes, people, and pets. However, removal programs are not effective in reducing coyote populations or addressing the root causes of conflicts,” the Humane Society of the United States said in its own coyote management plan document.
“Research has shown that when lethally controlled, coyotes exhibit a ‘rebound effect’ (a surge in their reproductive rates), allowing for quick regeneration of their population numbers,” according to the Humane Society.
Phase II of the plan is currently underway and has been partially completed. A website with an online submission form for reporting coyote encounters is now live, and the city IT department, along with an outside vendor, is working to add an interactive encounter map to the site.
The submission form prompts the reporting person to enter all the necessary information so the City can follow up. DAS noted that many residents calling the hotline number failed to include pertinent facts — such as the location of the sighting, the coyote behavior, or a call-back number — in their recorded messages.
The City’s plan also includes ongoing community outreach and education, including posting warning signage in coyote hotspots and holding neighborhood meetings. The DAS has already held informational meetings in Districts 10, 12, and 14 to offer safety tips and educate the public on how to respond to coyote encounters.
In addition, the city attorney is reviewing a proposed anti-feeding ordinance that would prohibit residents from feeding coyotes. After the review is complete, the ordinance will then be presented to the city council for discussion and a vote.
The City’s urban biologist, Brett Johnson, said that feeding coyotes attracts them to the neighborhood, leading to incidents such as the attack that occurred in May. “When you see these incidents, nearly every time there is a feeding issue, whether it’s intentional or unintentional,” Johnson told NBC 5.
Unintentional feeding can range from trash being left out all night to overflowing bird feeders, which attract rodents that coyotes prey upon. Even food that falls out of a car or that gets left on a doorstep can unintentionally attract animals, he cautioned.
The next step, Phase III of the Coyote Management Plan, includes “a technology solution that minimizes the manual portions of wildlife call handling process and enables the 3-1-1 system and DAS Database to seamlessly communicate.” This will allow calls that come through the city’s 3-1-1 information line to automatically upload into the DAS database via an interface.
To report a coyote encounter in the City of Dallas, call the hotline at 469-676-9813, or fill out the coyote sighting online submission form here.
