Great photos!
After a long absence from the city, the animals have become ubiquitous again. Some residents find them delightful, but others view them with disdain.
By Heather Knight and Loren Elliott
Photographs and Video by Loren Elliott
Reporting from San Francisco May 19, 2025 - NY Times
They walk along busy San Francisco streets. In Chinatown plazas. Across the paths of Muni buses.
One was found dozing in a laundromat.
Coyotes can sometimes be seen roaming in cities around the country, including Chicago and New York. But in San Francisco, they have become ubiquitous, and the tension between humans and coyotes is growing.
Some people adore them, and coyote mania has seeped into the city’s quirky culture. Others despise them and have called for their eradication, especially after one lunged at children and killed small dogs. Many people simply wonder where they all came from in the first place.
Dozens of coyotes live in San Francisco, with small packs controlling specific territories like mob families. Golden Gate Park is home to two clans, with the 19th Avenue thoroughfare apparently serving as their dividing line. Other coyotes lay claim to parks, canyons, hills and golf courses that dot the urban landscape.
Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, said a coyote had settled into the backyard of his mansion and lounged on his patio furniture. Brock Purdy, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, was filming a John Deere commercial in the city last year when he spotted a woman walking with her child and dog, unaware that a coyote was trailing them.
“I screamed, ‘Yo, there is a coyote!’” Mr. Purdy recalled later on ESPN. “That thing went running off.”
How Did They Return?
The Coyotes of San Francisco
Greg