Park rangers, biologists, and San Francisco visitors are breathing a sigh of relief after a remarkable coyote has been spotted safe and sound. In fact, he appears to be thriving!
The adventurous coyote, affectionately nicknamed ‘Floyd,’ was first seen swimming to Alcatraz on January 11. He crawled onto the rocky shore with shaking legs and took time to catch his breath before disappearing among the rocks and brush. After weeks of questions and concern, Floyd has been spotted again, and this time, scientists are keeping a much closer eye on him.
An update on that coyote that swam to Alcatraz Island. Remember the video from mid-January of a coyote swimming to the southern edge of the island? A worker for Alcatraz City Cruises shared it with us, saying he’s never seen a coyote swimming near Alcatraz before. It got on the rocks so depleted. Independent coyote researchers were worried. But now, we’re getting new photos of the new island resident from that worker. The National Parks Service said it believes this is the same one seen swimming a couple of weeks ago. This marks the first documented coyote presence on Alcatraz since the island was transferred to the National Park Service since 1972. Park biologists are actively monitoring the coyote and any potential impacts to the seabird breeding colony. The park though remains open and visitors can continue to safely visit. Coyotes and park visitors by the way have been recently coexisting on Bay Area islands like Angel Island. It was 2017 the first coyote was spotted on the Angel Island. Scientist believe it swam roughly one mile from Tiburon. Then another came and now scientist think there are more than a dozen that live on the island. The coyotes are now part of a five-year study spearheaded by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. I love nature. I love animals. So fascinated by how they make their way to these islands and make a home. What do you think about all this? Let me know! #coyote#alcatraz#bayarea#bay#animals @NBC Bay Area (Sorry, couldn’t get captions to work tonight!)…