A 70-pound female wolf was shot and killed Jan. 25 by a coyote hunter in Roberts County.

Wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act and state law, and it is illegal to kill them, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state Game, Fish and Parks Department officials.

People who plan to hunt coyotes in northeastern South Dakota, particularly in northern Roberts County, must make sure the animal is definitely a coyote and not a wolf.

Wildlife experts are warning West End residents and visitors to Stanley Park to watch out for a problem coyote after it attacked a swan and made off with a small dog.

A coyote took two bites out of a swan in the park Wednesday and nabbed a Yorkshire Terrier that was on a walk with its owner.

The swan was in a Vancouver animal hospital Thursday where it was expected to recover, but the dog couldn’t be found, despite a frantic search through the bushes by its owner and police.

Phil Dubrulle, who coordinates the Coexisting with Coyotes program for the Stanley Park Ecology Society, said there has been a spike in the number of coyote sightings in the West End and in Stanley Park over the last month, likely of the same animal.

He said the animal has become habituated to humans, possibly after being fed directly or scavenging food left out by people in the park.

“It’s out in the open in the daytime. It’s not scared of people,” he said. “When a coyote is fed, it really blends the boundary between it being afraid of people and not.”

Dubrulle is urging residents and park visitors to act aggressively towards coyotes so they don’t lose their fear of humans.

“We tell people to be big, mean and loud and never run away from a coyote,” he said.

Although the animals tend to prey on squirrels and other small mammals, it’s not unusual for them to kill pets.

Dubrulle was more surprised that the wild canine would attack a swan.

“The swan is a big creature, and it wouldn’t usually approach and attack a creature like that,” he said.

Dubrulle said he suspects the coyote may have detected that the bird was sick before attacking.

He said he hopes the animal will not be killed, saying that generally doesn’t happen unless an animal is threatening humans.

“Our preference is to try and educate people to coexist,” Dubrulle said. “Having a coyote in your neighbourhood or park is not a bad thing. They are predating on rodents, they’re keeping that population down.”

Mike Mackintosh, a wildlife specialist for the Vancouver park board, said the Ministry of Environment has been notified of the problem animal.

But he said even if conservation officers wanted to kill it, it would be hard to catch.

“They’re extremely wary, very intelligent, and very fast,” he said. “You can turn around and blink and they’re gone.”

Mackintosh said he believes the animal is healthy.

Vancouver police Const. Jana McGuinness said the woman walking the dog reported the incident to nearby police.

Though officers helped her look for her pet in nearby bushes, it couldn’t be found.

A tourist from the Netherlands who was attacked by a javelina at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has taken the first step to filing a lawsuit against the Tucson facility and Pima County taxpayers, according to a Sunday report.

Rene Zegerius has filed a claim for $400,000 over the incident in June, when he standing along a path inside the museum grounds when a javelina attacked him.

The pig-like animal tore muscle and nerves and severed veins and arteries in his right calf and left hand.

Zegerius spent eight days in a hospital, and says he lost money on hotel and travel reservations.

Medical expenses came to $70,000, and a last-minute ticket back to the Netherlands cost more than $15,000.

He had to buy a first-class ticket because doctors told him he needed to stay horizontal.

“These were very serious injuries,” said Clague Van Slyke, a Tucson attorney representing Zegerius. “It could have been fatal. Fortunately, it wasn’t, but he has permanent nerve damage.”

Van Slyke said Zegerius wants only fair compensation for what he has suffered and the money he wouldn’t have had to spend if he hadn’t been bitten.

Robert Edison, the museum’s executive director, said he’s certain the javelina that attacked Zegerius did not belong to the museum.

He said officials from the Arizona Game and Fish Department checked every animal for blood or other evidence and found nothing. The javelina that attacked Zegerius was never found.

Van Slyke, who last month filed a claim against Pima County — which owns the museum site — said he doesn’t believe the museum proved that the javelina that attacked his client didn’t belong to them, and zookeepers have an absolute obligation to keep visitors safe from animals.

“They have a duty to guests to protect them,” he said. “They shouldn’t have waited for someone to be attacked to take action.”

Edison said the museum has wild animals on the grounds all the time because it is part of a natural setting. “Guests are advised of that,” he said.

Attorneys from both sides say they hope to resolve the issue outside the courtroom.

Health officials say a bobcat that attacked an Indiantown man last week was infected with rabies.

The Martin County Health Department reported Monday that 28-year-old Romeo P. Gomez must undergo treatment in case he was infected with the virus. Okeechobee Animal Control says Gomez and a friend were working on a fence at a private ranch Thursday when the bobcat approached them. Gomez attempted to scare the animal away, but the cat jumped at him and began to attack. Gomez’s friend grabbed a hammer and killed the 30-pound cat.

Health officials suspected the animal had rabies because bobcats usually shy away from humans and rarely attack.

The virus can be fatal if left untreated.

In the sleepy little town of Bridgeport, AZ there has been a rash of mountain lion attacks. 1-15-09 a neighbor of the St. Joseph’s Catholic School heard a commotion but it wasn’t until the next morning when some children who feed the animal for there animal husbandry class found the carnage. One goat was killed and another injured.
On the Monday prior to theses attacks there was another attack just on the opposite side of SR 89A. This attack involved a 6 year old little girls pet sheep. One was mauled so bad it had to be put down, another is recovering. AZ game and fish founds a clear paw print implicating a mountain lion in the attacks.

01-15-08
A Colorado women was playing Frisbee with her dog Rufus when she said she was approached by two Coyotes, Then ” the larger one came up and bit her arm “.
26 year-old Amanda Denison said, “I thought they were dogs at first wanting to play,”. After she shook the Coyote off her arm her dog chased it away.
All this on a day when the CO Senate Committee shot down a bill on predator control.