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As It Happens6:29Why did the coyote swim to Alcatraz? Scientists are trying to find out
Camilla Fox has been fascinated by wild canines for most of her life. As a child, her family fostered an orphaned wolf pup and her father studied wild dogs and their behaviour.
But the journey of the so-called “Alcatraz Coyote” is unlike anything she has seen before.
“I have never heard of a story of a coyote swimming two miles in major ocean currents,” Fox, the founder and executive director of Project Coyote, told As It Happens in a recent interview.
Earlier this year, a male coyote paddled across the San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz Island. And though biologists initially thought it had swum from San Francisco, about 1.6 kilometres away, they later learned it had travelled roughly twice as far — setting off from Angel Island, one of California’s state parks.
Pictures and videos of the bedraggled coyote emerged Jan. 24. Onlookers said it looked like a drowned rat as it struggled getting out of the frigid water onto Alcatraz’s rocky shoreline.
Scientists have confirmed the coyote made it to the island, but they’re exactly not sure why it went there.
But Fox has her suspicions.
“The likelihood, from a biological viewpoint, is that that animal was motivated to leave the confines of an island, find a mate, find territory,” said Fox, whose non-profit organization is dedicated to animal protection and education.
Coyotes are known for being resilient and adaptable, but Fox said she was concerned after seeing what he looked like after the swim. But part of the beauty of studying wild animals, she said, is their ability to leave humans in awe.
“They’re curious, just like our beloved canine dogs,” she said. “We will never know what exactly motivated that animal.”
Island paradise for wildlife
Once home to the infamous Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the island was added to the U.S. National Park Service in 1972, in part because of its unique environment. It’s now a conservation area for a diverse ecosystem of seabirds and marine life.
Colorado State University wildlife ecology professor Joel Berger thinks the coyote might have swum to Alcatraz to seek sanctuary.
“They get chased out of their natal or their birth areas so they leave because there’s too much aggression towards them,” Berger said.
In rural areas, coyotes can harm farmers’ livelihood by killing their livestock, Berger said, and when the animals move into urban areas, there’s concern of attacks on people or pets. In some cases, that fear has sparked culls on coyote populations.
Like dogs, coyotes are smart and know when to adjust their behaviour, Berger said.
“They learn pretty quickly that humans can dictate their lives, so they don’t want to mess with us too much,” the professor said. “So, they’ll be more active at night, they’ll avoid some of our areas.”
To survive on Alcatraz, the coyote will need to eat seabirds. Berger said chicks, nesting birds and eggs are particularly vulnerable to coyote attacks, but he noted the coyote could accidentally kill off its food supply.
“As the coyotes eat, there’s less and less, until the point where the food is so reduced that the coyotes end up starving,” though he notes it would be a bigger issue if there are mating coyotes on the island who then boost the predator population.
‘Misunderstood, persecuted, maligned’
Coyotes are native to North America, and Berger said he thinks if we developed better strategies to coexist peacefully, coyotes would be better appreciated for the role they play in nature.
Similarly, Fox wants the public to know that an apex predator, like coyotes, matters in ecosystems. She says Project Coyote’s goal is to educate people so they can reduce the likelihood of negative encounters with canines.
“I really saw a need and a niche for an organization that would advocate for the most misunderstood, persecuted, maligned wild carnivores in North America,” she said.
Researchers at the University of California Davis are examining the DNA of coyotes around Angel Island and San Francisco to learn more about them.
The coyote that swam to Alcatraz is one of 14 that colonized Angel Island after one swam there in 2017.
Fox said she’s excited to find out what happens next on the coyote’s journey.
“Hopefully we know if that animal makes it back to Angel Island or decides to disperse to a new area.”
