Coyotes are part of the East Bay Regional Parks District ecosystem. We see coyotes in the Botanic Garden from time to time during daylight hours and we know that they are regularly present in the Garden at night.

To ensure the safety of the members of your group, please follow these recommendations:

• Ensure that you keep young children close or within eyesight at all times as coyotes are attracted to small mammals.

• If you see a coyote, please report it to a Garden staff member or volunteer as soon as possible.

• Do not feed a coyote; a fed coyote is a dead coyote!

• If you encounter a coyote within 50 feet in the Botanic Garden and it does not move away on its own, here are ways you can intimidate (or haze) the animal to get it to move away from you:

• Be as big and loud as possible; shout in a deep, loud, aggressive voice and clap your hands.

• Wave your arms over your head to appear larger.

• Maintain eye contact with the coyote as that makes the coyote uncomfortable and timid.

• If the coyote continues to approach, do not run or turn your back on the coyote, but continue to exaggerate the above gestures while backing away slowly. Do throw objects toward the coyote, taking care not to hit the animal if possible.

• Continue hazing the coyote until it goes away and/or you can no longer see it.