Prince George Conservation and RCMP officers are “actively investigating” six separate coyote attacks within a week in the city.
RCMP say in a statement they have issued a warning to the public after receiving separate complaints of the attacks.
B.C. conservation officer Eamon McArthur says most of the attacks have been on homeless people, some of whom have also been “actively feeding” the coyotes.
He says it’s unclear if they are feeding them by hand or tossing the food, but those coyotes now identify people with food.
McArthur said coyotes have bitten some of these people when they’ve been sleeping.
RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Cooper says they are now working with conservation officers on patrols to locate the “offending coyotes.”
Cooper says the public needs to avoid feeding coyotes as it can lure them to spend more time in populated areas.
“They are not domestic animals and should not be treated as such,” says Cooper.
McArthur said his team has set up traps and placed signs around city parks to warn people about the coyotes.
