On January 11th, a coyote was spotted paddling up to the southern shore of Alcatraz Island, becoming the first one to ever complete the swim since the National Park Service (NPS) took over the island in 1972.
But the coyote, nicknamed ‘Floyd,’ may be coming to the end of its stay after nearly a month surviving on nesting seabirds.
SFGATE reported yesterday that if the animal doesn’t leave on its own within a week, the NPS will “humanely trap and remove” the coyote, bringing it to a new undetermined location.
The coyote hasn’t been spotted on the island now since Jan. 24th, although there is recent evidence that it’s been snacking on the island’s seabirds, which has created a conundrum for the island’s role as a designated seabird sanctuary.
Biologists are also concerned about the coyote surviving on Alcatraz in the long term, given that the island has no fresh water and minimal cover within its 22 acres.
While this may be the first time a coyote has swum to Alcatraz, it’s not completely unprecedented. Back in 2017, a coyote managed to swim to Angel Island, where it called out to the mainland and was eventually joined by another — now, the Angel Island coyote pack has 14 members.
News of the Alcatraz coyote’s removal may cause a bit of déjà vu after last week’s story about the mountain lion. If you missed it, a young male mountain lion was spotted in Pacific Heights last week, leading to an “hours-long standoff” at California and Octavia Streets. Eventually, it was tranquilized and relocated to a safe location.
While the coyote may have affected the seabirds, it’s not affected operations on Alcatraz, which is still welcoming visitors as usual. NPS has not yet shared how it plans to trap and remove the Alcatraz coyote.