Golden Gate Park in San Francisco stretches about 3.5 miles in length and .5 miles in width, and occupies a space of about 1.5 square miles. Over the past five years, we’ve had as many as three coyote families using portions of the park — the westernmost tip of the park was actually a small extension of another territory, but doesn’t seem to be that anymore. Note that these families live on exclusively owned territories and keep other coyotes out, which is why it’s easy to know their territories.
For years, the Eastern Family occupied the territory from the eastern area of the park to all the way past Crossover Drive, while the Western Family kept to the very western part of the park. The territories, of course, extended far beyond the northern and southern boundaries of the park, deep into the surrounding neighborhoods which are patrolled and marked mostly at night, but the park area has been their main hub with their denning areas. The average urban coyote territory of 2.5 square miles is epitomized by the Presidio.
In 2022 the Eastern Family was actually a *double family*: both an alpha mother coyote AND her two-year-old daughter became pregnant and were nursing, and the families co-mingled, but just for one season. This situation was probably caused by the City’s killing of the alpha male in 2021. After that, a new male entered the picture and fathered pups to both the alpha female and her daughter. Maybe it’s because they were related that they all lived in harmony. The next year, in 2023, we were back to ONE family in the area with the daughter-turned-mother and her brother becoming the new alphas. The older alphas had disappeared: I’ve witnessed this almost *ceding* the territory to the younger generation a number of times, and the older pair then appear to disperse forever, never to be seen again, like any other dispersing yearling unable to claim a territory within the city.
The Eastern Family at the moment consists of four individuals: Mom, Dad, a one-year-old male yearling and a three-year-old male offspring who has not left yet. Mom and Dad produced a new litter of pups this year — I haven’t seen them yet, but Mom is lactating.
The Western Family consists of five adult-size individuals: Mom, Dad and three sons, aged one, two and three years of age. They too have produced a new litter of pups this year as evidenced by the lactating Mom. Last year this Western Family denned openly right off a field used by dogs. It was not a good situation for either dogs or coyotes. But, as they say, *practice makes perfect* and this family had a lot of practice running off dogs. This practice may have given them the confidence to close-in on the other coyote family — or maybe even vice versa!
In 2021 I had seen forays by the Western Family into the edges of the Eastern Territory at night. This *pushing the envelope* continued, with that Western Family now adding a 1/2 to 3/4ths mile section of the park to their territory, taken over from the Eastern Family.
What’s interesting is that the Western family now travels as a large family unit — 3 to 5 of them together most of the time. I’m wondering if the sheer nightly appearance of this group is what has allowed their slow encroachment east.
In short, we have two coyote families in Golden Gate Park, with one seemingly interested in claiming more of the other’s, if not the whole park. The Eastern Family, on the other hand, is hanging on to what they inherited from their parents — they did not fight for their territory, whereas I believe the Western Family displaced the last family in the West about 5 years ago — the few photos I took of that family do not resemble anyone in the current family. As I’ve pointed out before, there are uncanny family resemblances in coyote nuclear families that have helped me make associations between them.
Here are some very general photos from throughout the park: Dog issues. Hunting, eating, sleeping, howling and thirst quenching: major coyote occupations! Some other wildlife. Human food is everywhere.
Coyote Yipps 