10/18/2026
Atwater Village Coyote Incident: A Preventable Tragedy
For months, residents of Atwater Village in Los Angeles had been reporting troubling behavior from a coyote they nicknamed Wiley. Since at least January 2026, residents described her approaching people and reportedly chasing pets and children. According to neighbors, she was being intentionally fed by someone on the 3300 block of Glenhurst Avenue.
On July 27, a concerned resident contacted me and shared video of the coyote resting on the roof of a car at a property where feeding was suspected. The following day, I personally filed a complaint with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) through CalTIP, providing the witness's contact information.
Neither of us received a response.
On August 11, CBS Los Angeles reported on her increasingly concerning behavior and neighbors' unsuccessful attempts to stop the suspected feeding.
Watch CBS Los Angeles coverage:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2588156921639292
Warnings to Los Angeles Animal Services continued, but residents reported no meaningful intervention.
Then, on October 17, we learned that a 16-month-old boy had been bitten by the coyote while in the family's backyard, just a couple of doors down from the suspected feeder. The coyote was subsequently killed by authorities.
Watch NBC Los Angeles coverage:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2588156921639292
A Coyote Caught Between Two Worlds
As new videos and information emerge, I am increasingly concerned that much of her behavior may have been misunderstood.
In one video, she is seen loping alongside a woman who is screaming. Some have characterized this as predatory behavior, but I see no clear evidence of predatory intent. That behavior is more consistent with play or social curiosity. Understandably, such encounters are frightening to residents, but that doesn't make them predatory.
I now question whether some of the reported incidents involving children and dogs were similarly misinterpreted. Coyotes are intelligent, curious, highly social animals. They can even establish playful relationships with domestic dogs.
We don't know her early history. Was she taken in as a pup and raised by someone? Had she been encouraged to interact with people from an early age? We may never know. But her behavior raises important questions about how human interaction may have shaped her social development.
And that makes this story even more heartbreaking.
Here was an animal seemingly caught between two worlds - not a fully wild coyote with a natural fear of people and healthy boundaries, yet not truly socialized or equipped to navigate safely around humans. Ultimately, something drove her to bite a child, unprovoked - a fatal mistake.
This Was Preventable
Los Angeles has a law prohibiting the feeding of coyotes. California also has regulations prohibiting certain forms of wildlife feeding. Residents had been reporting suspected feeding and troubling behavior for months.
Where was the intervention? Where was the enforcement?
We have laws. What we need is consistent enforcement, rapid response, and meaningful intervention before situations escalate.
Communities such as Pasadena, Manhattan Beach, and Los Angeles County have established programs for evaluating and responding to reports of concerning coyote behavior. The City of Los Angeles must develop that same capacity, and the State of California must take responsibility for enforcing its wildlife regulations.
We cannot expect neighbors to confront neighbors over illegal wildlife feeding. We need trained, authorized officers who can investigate complaints, knock on doors, enforce the law, and coordinate intervention when wildlife behavior becomes concerning.
This situation required intervention long before a child was bitten. Now a child has been hurt, and a coyote is dead.
We must hold authorities accountable for preventing the next one, not simply reacting after it happens.
— Rebecca Dmytryk
Wildlife Emergency Services | Humane Wildlife Control Inc.
[email protected]
855-548-6263
