'Unprecedented' rise in coyote attacks prompts Toronto's deputy mayor to pitch urgent action plan
Ausma Malik's plan will go to city council for consideration next month
Liberty Village dog owner Ann Selvanayagam says she and her five-year-old terrier Gregorio are still recovering emotionally from a sudden coyote attack near her building two weeks ago.
Selvanayagam says she was out with her dog for a short walk when a coyote attempted to drag the dog away in its teeth, sending Gregorio to the emergency vet for stitches.
Now, she says, "when we're out, he's on high alert," and will often shake until she carries him a few blocks away.
A growing number of stories like these have prompted Toronto's deputy mayor to take her action plan to address coyote attacks to city hall.
On Wednesday, Coun. Ausma Malik successfully introduced a plan at the city's economic and community development committee that instructs city staff to research how to best address the problem, including looking at what tools could be used to divert the animals, and what other cities are doing to manage their populations.
She also requested that an education campaign to teach residents how to protect themselves and to explain what the city is doing to curb the attacks.
Now that the plan has been greenlit by the committee, it will go to city council for consideration in late March.
Malik says the increase in coyote attacks has been "unprecedented."
"Coyotes have been displaced from their more green habitats without proper consideration, entering our neighbourhoods and displaying what experts have called unusually aggressive behaviour," she told reporters on Wednesday.
Carleton Grant, executive director of municipal licensing and standards in Toronto, has been working with Malik on her plan and to assemble an expert panel to weigh in on the steps the city is taking.
He says that too many coyotes in Toronto have become habituated to humans.
"What we're seeing is that they are more comfortable approaching people, and approaching people with dogs that are on leash," said Grant.
Coyotes have bitten dogs, chased humans
According to a group of neighbours that call themselves The Coyote Safety Coalition, there have been more than 50 pet attacks in Fort York and Liberty Village since November.
"We urgently call for a comprehensive and sustainable action plan to address this issue permanently," the coalition said in a Feb. 11 letter signed by Ruby Kooner, a Liberty Village resident who says her dog died after a coyote attack in November.
The group also says coyotes have chased humans a number of times.
The city has already pledged to increase patrols in the Fort York and Liberty Village areas after a number of sightings and incidents this winter, and to patch up fencing along the train tracks to keep the canines away from parks where dog owners let their pets run free.
Grant also said that the larger patrols in parks are already working, with fewer incidents reported over the last few days.
"Aversion is our first option, and we have seen success with it," he said. "These are habitual animals that are becoming too comfortable in an urban setting. And they need to be uncomfortable."
Aversion, which is also called hazing or humane harassment, involves using triggers like bright lights or sounds to safely compel animals to move away from humans or buildings.
Impact of construction and development
Malik and local MPP Chris Glover have both pinned the blame for the sudden change in coyote behaviour on construction at Ontario Place, arguing that the redevelopment has removed green space from the coyote's former habitat, pushing them into the city.
An environmental assessment for the Ontario Place redevelopment did not report any coyote habitat in the area, but Glover says that didn't look at the entirety of the redevelopment area. A Metrolinx assessment for the Ontario Line's planned Exhibition Station found evidence of coyotes in the area.
Mike Fenn, a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources, said in a statement earlier this month that multiple assessments and studies of the Ontario Place redevelopment showed no evidence of coyotes on the site.
Relocation vs. euthanasia
Glover has suggested that the coyotes need to be relocated, though a wildlife expert interviewed by the CBC points out that wildlife can only be moved a maximum of one kilometer under provincial legislation.
Dennis Murray, a Canada Research Chair in integrated wildlife conservation at Trent University, argued instead that the animals should be humanely killed.
That's where Liberty Village pet owner Ann Selvanayagam has landed as well.
She says coyotes like the one who attacked her dog do not appear to be afraid of people and do not respond to aversion, instead freely approaching dogs and people regardless of their reaction.
"This is beyond normal behaviour," she said of the animal who bit her terrier. "The only option is to put down this one coyote."
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