Coyotes are apparently on the rise in a park in the heart of the Bronx

CLAREMONT, the Bronx (PIX11) — It’s surrounded by some of the most densely populated areas of the nation’s most densely populated city, but Claremont Park is home to what local residents say is a growing number of coyotes.

That concerns some people in the neighborhood, but animal experts and parks officials say it’s no cause for worry if people respect the animals’ privacy.

Children, dogs, and grownups spend time in the small green oasis in the middle of the Bronx, and coyotes do, too. There have been no verified reports of aggressiveness or attacks by the wild animals, but last weekend, some people visiting the park said that some of the coyotes had threatened them.

Many other residents describe the four-legged creatures as a part of city living that needs to be accepted.

One thing is for certain: the coyotes, against what seem to be long odds, are in the park that’s surrounded by neighborhoods as dense in population as those surrounding Central Park, even though Claremont Park is only four percent the size of its much more famous Manhattan neighbor.

Despite the small size of the coyotes’ habitat, it’s just green enough that they’ve felt right at home, apparently for at least a year now.

“Coyote of Claremont,” is how Jonathan Almanzar described at least one of the park’s furry residents. Almanzar lives near the park and regularly walks his cockapoo on the main lawn.

“This is their territory, you could say.” Almanzar said about the coyotes. “You’ve got to share it with them, right?”

Another dog owner, Gloria Montes, disagreed.

“It’s very dangerous having the coyotes around here with these dogs, and kids are playing,” she said while standing with her dog. “This is a playground, you’ve got to understand, where kids come and play, and dogs get to walk.”

Another resident, Yasmin Cruz, who was walking her cocker spaniel, said that she didn’t mind the coyotes.

“As long as they’re not a danger to the people around, [in] the community,” she said, “I think it’s okay to see them, and just keep your distance.”

While she was with her dog on the main lawn, she spotted a coyote resting at the edge of the lawn. It moved away as soon as it realized that parkgoers were eyeing it.

The Claremont coyotes are not the first to have been spotted in the city, but most coyotes have been found in more wooded and remote areas.

In the last few decades, more trees and greenery have been added in the Bronx, and that greening keeps increasing. Keith Lovett, the director of animal programs at the Bronx Zoo, said in an interview that the growing greenery in the city helps easily adaptive animals, like coyotes, adapt even more to an urban setting.

“As the city is devoted to making more and more green spaces, by default they’re making more habitat for wildlife,” Lovett said. “In this case, they’re making habitat for coyotes.”

For its part, the New York City Parks Department, which operates and oversees Claremont Park, issued a statement that said, in part:

“Coyotes are living within the city limits, throughout the different boroughs.  We have no reason to believe the coyotes in question are unhealthy or pose a threat to human safety. However, as with all wild animals, we advise everyone to keep their distance and avoid close contact.”

Another type of contact to avoid, according to Levitt, the animal programs director at the Bronx Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society, is feeding the coyotes, or any wild animal.

“Because this is what gets them closer and closer to people,” Levitt said, “and this is also what gets them more desensitized to people, so they’re less likely to flee when you come around.”

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