A Coyote Is Captured After A Jog Through Horace Mann

Horace Mann received an unexpected lesson in zoology yesterday morning when a wild coyote wandered onto the preparatory school's Bronx campus, which doubles as a summer camp while its students are on vacation.

A New York City Animal Care and Control staff arrived in the area after receiving reports that the animal was on the loose nearby. Field officers drove out to the area and discovered the young coyote on Post Road, just outside the 18-acre campus. The coyote did not need to be tranquilized and offered no resistance as staff secured the animal and brought it back to their care center, a spokesman for Animal Care and Control, Richard Gentles, said. The coyote will likely be transferred to a rehabilitation center or wildlife sanctuary.

The director of the Urban Park Rangers, Sarah Aucoin, said in an interview that coyote are not uncommon in the Bronx, where large wooded areas provide a comfortable environment for the creatures.

"We actually know of a few coyote families living in Pelham Bay Park and Van Cortlandt," Ms. Aucoin said. She added that Bronx residents were reporting a higher than usual number of coyote sightings this summer.

On rare occasions, coyotes have crossed bridges and tunnels to wander into the big city as well. In 2006, a coyote nicknamed "Hal" made its way into Central Park, where it evaded police and parks department officers for several days before being shot with a tranquilizer dart. Another coyote was tranquilized and captured in the same section of the park after a spirited chase in 1999. It was brought to the Bronx Zoo.

According to Ms. Aucoin, the coyotes do not pose a serious threat to humans and may even provide some benefits. Their predatory instincts are credited with helping to curb the city's unwanted population of migrating Canadian geese, which have plagued Van Cortlandt's public golf course and led groundskeepers to dispatch "geese police," who use dogs to scare them off.