After several recent coyote attacks, Burlington city councillors approve new prevention plan

Burlington city councillors unanimously supported bolstering its coyote response strategy on Tuesday after a string of coyote attacks over the past three weeks.

The corporate services, strategy, risk and accountability committee voted to approve the one-time use of $22,850 toward their efforts.

Some of the actions will include:

• Signing a multi-year agreement with a Certified Wildlife Professional until 2023, with the option to renew the contract for three additional one-year terms.
• Having the director of bylaw services create a new two-year Coyote Action and Awareness Program.
• Establishing a new bylaw compliance department.
• Undertaking a full review of animal services bylaws and updating them.
• Authorize the director of roads, parks and forestry to install lids for non-decorative garbage cans in the area of the coyote attacks.

You can read the entire list here. It comes after Burlington has seen six unprovoked attacks in the south central and south east parts of the city since Aug. 22.

They've included an 18-year-old girl, a toddler and most recently a resident at a retirement home on New Street.

Victims received medical attention but were released.

The city also ended up killing a coyote it believes was responsible for the first three attacks.

Burlington has been offering coyote whistles to residents ever since.

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said in a statement, the revamped plan a "giant step forward in our actions to protect our community."

In a press release issued Thursday the city said "The ability to co-exist with these wild animals is, in part, due to understanding their behaviour, how to maintain their fear of humans and how to reduce attractants such as food sources." 

Ministry experts say human food prompting attacks

The city also says it met with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Provincial Services Division to help deal with the attacks.

The city said the ministry's experts "are convinced these localized attacks are coming from coyotes who have been conditioned to see humans as a food source."

"When people feed coyotes, intentionally or unintentionally, coyotes become familiar with humans, are no longer afraid of humans and show more and more aggressive behaviour," read a media release from the city on Tuesday.

"Once a coyote crosses the boundary of acceptable interaction with humans the coyote must be eliminated for public safety, due to a situation they did not initiate."

The city said it has received reports and photos of a bushel of corn left and frozen meals on the Centennial Multi-use Trail close to the site of the last attack.

It urged people to stop leaving out food.

The experts also said the attacks are likely coming from one aggressive coyote family.

"The coyote that was eliminated after the first three attacks was most likely the father and taught the other coyotes in the family to behave this way. This type of aggression is learned from the parents and once it is learned, it becomes ingrained and the behaviour cannot be changed," read the media release.

"This family of aggressive coyotes is likely roaming within a two to three square kilometre area even though they are known to travel up to 15 square kilometres. Since coyotes are territorial, the experts advise this is one family creating this cluster of isolated attacks."