First Pupping Season Underway for New Presidio Coyote Pair

The Presidio's new (2020) pair of alpha coyotes. The alpha female, known as 15F, wears a temporary GPS collar and can be identified by the red tags on each of her ears. The male can be identified (although not in this image) by a scar above his right eye.

Presidio Trust

April 2020 - Last winter, an unknown female coyote passed through the Presidio of San Francisco. Presidio Ecologist Jonathan Young was able to put a temporary GPS collar on her before she left. Last summer, she returned with a mate and drove out the resident alpha coyote pair. Their battle was captured on a restaurant security camera. Now coyote 15F, the new alpha female, and her mate are probably caring for their first litter of pups in their new Presidio territory. Although Young has not yet seen any pups, he has spotted 15F no longer visibly pregnant.

Coyotes caring for pups can be more likely to clash with any dogs passing through their territory. So as they have done in the past, the Presidio has closed certain areas to dog walking to protect dogs and coyotes alike. The park can make these closures strategically thanks to 15F’s GPS collar. Young used it to determine the likely location of 15F’s den, and recommend appropriate closures.

Come fall, when 15F’s presumed pups are old enough, Young hopes to attach GPS collars to them as well. Coyote pups rarely stay long in their parents’ territory. Instead, they disperse in search of territories of their own. The temporary GPS collars are part of a larger effort to better understand coyote dispersal, and coyote behavior in general. Studying urban coyote diets is another component of this research being led by UC Davis graduate student Tali Caspi. The dietary work, involving the collection and DNA analysis of coyote scat, is on hold due to COVID-19. In the meantime, Caspi is focusing on uncovering new secrets from Young’s growing collection of coyote GPS collar data. Ultimately, Young and Caspi hope their work can help to further reduce the potential for human-coyote conflict throughout San Francisco and beyond.

For more information

• Check the Coyotes in the Presidio webpage for details on the dog walking closures, and for all of the latest Presidio coyote updates.
• Watch “Why urban coyote sightings are on the rise,” a video by The Verge, featuring Jonathan Young.
• Read about the Presidio’s newest coyote pair in “A New Alpha Coyote Takes Over in San Francisco’s Presidio,” from Bay Nature.
• Contact Presidio Ecologist Jonathan Young

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