As Liberty Village residents continue to report an influx of downtown coyote run-ins, Toronto’s deputy mayor Ausma Malik on Wednesday pushed for further city intervention.
Malik, who has been outspoken about coyote encounters, said more extreme measures such as trapping and euthanasia will be considered.
Her comments came the same day the city’s economic community and development committee approved an urgent Downtown Coyote Action Plan, which will establish a third-party group of urban wildlife specialists called the “Downtown Coyote Response Expert Panel.”
Work on the panel comes after several months of outcry from Liberty Village residents. Many have said their pets have been killed by coyotes or that they have personally had uncomfortably close encounters with the wild canines.
Malik told reporters the panel was being established to combat “the unprecedented level” of downtown coyote confrontations.
Euthanising coyotes not off the table
Malik said the Downtown Coyote Response Expert Panel will explore methods like the use of patrols and technology to mitigate downtown coyote run-ins.
However, if those efforts eventually fail, Malik told TorontoToday live trapping and euthanasia of coyotes could be a “last resort option.”
“It’s one that this expert panel will be reviewing,” she said of euthanasia.
A recent petition from Toronto-based coyote advocate Nicole Corrado calls on the city to only use humane, no kill solutions. The petition has so far been signed by over 400 individuals.
“Shooting, Coneybear trapping, leghold trapping and snaring traumatize the public and put domestic animals and children at risk,” Corrado wrote in a letter to the city.
Corrado and other coyote advocates also oppose methods like relocation.
“Relocating doesn’t solve the real problem,” she argued. “Other coyotes will replace them [and] are extremely difficult to capture humanely.”
Earlier this month, the Toronto Wildlife Centre said it received many messages suggesting coyotes in the downtown area should be humanely trapped, relocated or killed. The wildlife centre also does not support any of these options.
“To consider killing the coyotes without changing the human behaviours that led to this problem in the first place would be tremendously unfair to the coyotes, and will not prevent the conflict from happening again,” the organization wrote on social media.
Is Ontario Place construction to blame for coyotes downtown?
In January, Malik claimed the coyotes in Liberty Village “have been displaced from their habitats without proper consideration by the provincial redevelopment like Ontario Place and are dangerously entering our growing neighbourhoods.”
Ontario Place is being redeveloped by the Austrian spa company Therme, which faced scrutiny last October when the provincial government gave the go-ahead to cut down hundreds of trees on the West Island.
The Ministry of Natural Resources denies that any coyotes were displaced by the tree clearing and construction. Following two provincial environmental assessments of the West Island in 2022 and 2023, the ministry has said no evidence of coyote habitats was identified at the site.
However, during Wednesday’s press conference, Malik doubled down on the assertion that developments like Therme are to blame.
“When it comes to Ontario Place, the province excused themselves from completing a proper environmental assessment,” she told TorontoToday. “We know that without the proper and thorough considerations, and when development like that happens without the proper study, we see outcomes like this with wildlife displaced.”
Distressed birds circling the forest destruction at Ontario Place @ONPlace4All pic.twitter.com/KwpXs4xaY5
— jonclement (@jonclement) October 3, 2024
Liberty Village residents take action
Members of the Coyote Safety Coalition — a grassroots organization in Liberty Village — are at city hall this week pushing for urgent action on the aggressive coyote problem.
On Tuesday, the group left 50 stuffed animals outside the building to represent the number of pets that have allegedly been attacked in their neighbourhood and surrounding areas.
The demonstration included four stuffies at the front — marked in red — to symbolize the number of dogs that have died as a result of coyote interactions.
Ruby Kooner, leader of the coalition and one of the four locals who lost her dog to an attack in Ordnance Triangle Park last year, documented more than 40 reported altercations involving coyotes in the Liberty Village area between November 2024 and Feb. 10, 2025.
While Toronto Animal Services has until the fourth quarter of 2025 to update its Coyote Response Strategy, a sudden rise in sightings and attacks over the last three months prompted Malik to request relevant divisions develop a Downtown Coyote Action Plan and provide an interim report to the city’s economic and community development committee at its May 6 meeting.
The report would assess best practices used to handle coyotes in other urban jurisdictions, explore uses of technology and other tools for diversion, and gather additional input from wildlife experts.
Malik has also recommended city staff distribute public education material detailing proactive measures residents can take to protect themselves — such as wearing protective gear, keeping dogs leashed and not feeding coyotes.
As TorontoToday reported earlier this month, the Coyote Safety Coalition has secured city commitments for more patrol staff, and lighting and fencing assessments in problematic areas.
Residents have begun keeping track of coyote conflicts by logging sightings and altercations on a new mapping website. Locals can enter details of their incident, including the time and location of the event, whether their pet was injured and if their dog was leashed.
According to the map, coyote hotspots include June Callwood Park, Trillium Park, Coronation Park and Massey Harris Park.
Toronto’s Downtown Coyote Response Expert Panel
Revealed by Malik on Wednesday, the Downtown Coyote Response Expert Panel will conduct a review of the steps taken so far to limit coyote aggression in the city’s west end.
The panel — which includes representatives from the Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto Regional Conservation Authority, Coyote Watch Canada and the universities in Guelph and Calgary — will commence work this week. Members will visit hot spots and report back to the city with recommendations on how to handle coyotes.
The panel, which will conduct interviews with Liberty Village residents and review the city’s pre-existing coyote strategies, is expected to present its findings to the economic community and development committee by March 10.
Next month’s report will inform staff working on the Downtown Coyote Action Plan of its findings, as well as the city’s overall revised coyote strategy — which won’t be reported back to city council until the end of this year.
What to do if you see a coyote in Toronto
Residents are asked to dial 311 if they witness someone feeding a coyote, or if they see a coyote doing the following:
- approaching dogs or people;
- exploring a home or building far from a large park or open area;
- limping or staggering or with paralyzed hind legs;
- acting confused around non-living objects;
- biting pets; or
- appearing sick or injured.
