County employees shoot, kill five aggressive coyotes on Palos Verdes Peninsula

Five coyotes have been shot to death on the Palos Verdes Peninsula by Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture workers in recent weeks, sparking safety conces from some residents.

The killings come amid reports of an increase in coyote sightings on the Peninsula, as well as a spike in the number of coyotes sighted in nearby Torrance.

Three coyotes were shot in Rolling Hills Estates in late April, and two were killed in Rolling Hills on Monday, said Ken Pellman, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Weights and Measures. All five animals posed a threat to humans, Pullman said.

Department persoel can either trap coyotes before killing them, or officers can use weapons — in this case a .22 caliber rifle — to kill coyotes that aren’t in traps, Pullman said. Two of the animals killed in Rolling Hills Estates were not in traps, and neither of the coyotes shot in Rolling Hills were trapped.

According to regulations from the Califoia Department of Fish and Wildlife, coyotes caot be relocated once they’re trapped, Pellman said.

In a release Thursday, the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals called on county Supervisor Don Knabe to rethink the practice of shooting of coyotes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Cheryl Buett, communications director for Knabe, said the safety of residents is the first priority and that killing coyotes is a last resort to respond to aggressive animals.

“The most important thing communities can do to protect themselves is to be alert and act responsibly — do not feed wildlife and do not leave trash and pet food out and uncovered,” Buett said in an email.

Three cities on the Peninsula — Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes — were identified in the release as working with the county to rid their areas of coyotes.

Alexa Davis, assistant to the Rolling Hills Estates city manager, said the city has not directed any agency to kill coyotes. Rather, the city has an ongoing contract with the county to manage the coyote population in the area, and it’s up to the county how that is accomplished.

The city also promotes coyote hazing — practices like making loud noises or throwing rocks to keep coyotes away — by residents to keep the animals out of residential areas, she said.

Davis also said county persoel must get permission from property owners or local homeowners associations to shoot the animals on private land.

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Doug Willmore, city manager for Rancho Palos Verdes, said the city has not hired anyone to shoot coyotes and that he wasn’t aware of the killings in the adjacent Peninsula communities.

The city manager for Rolling Hills did not immediately retu a request for comment.

Shooting coyotes raises a variety of possible issues, said Madeline Bestein, president of spcaLA. Firing on them when they’re not enclosed in a trap runs the risk of bullets going astray and hitting people or pets, she said.

And since the animals generally aren’t tagged, Bestein said, it can be difficult to know whether the coyote being killed was actually the animal causing problems.

“It’s typically a knee-jerk reaction without a lot of data or science to back it up,” Bestein said.

Pellman disputed those conces, saying the Department of Agriculture persoel are trained to know when and how to use their weapons and don’t use them in areas that would risk harm to another person or domestic animal.

“They’re working out there in certain conditions, some remote areas,” Pellman said. “They’re not shooting these things off into the distance where they’re going to get stray bullets or something like that.”

Because coyotes are territorial animals, he said, an animal creating trouble in an area most likely would be the same one captured by department persoel in that area.

The department’s primary focus is on protecting human life, Pellman said, and at times that means killing coyotes that have become aggressive or too accustomed to humans. The county Bureau of Weights and Measures generally shoots an average of 17 coyotes a year, Pellman said, and the spike in recent weeks is likely due to the reproductive cycles of the animals.

“There’s coyotes that are maturing and being trained by the parent, so there’s more activity now,” Pellman said.

For the most part, however, department persoel focus on educating homeowners on how to deter coyotes from their area in the first place, like keeping trash cans tightly closed and small pets inside.

Linda Retz, a resident of the Dapplegray Lane community in Rolling Hills Estates, said her husband contacted spcaLA Lt. Cesar Perea after a Weights and Measures employee approached the homeowners association in the area seeking permission to shoot coyotes there. Retz raised conces that the officers’ actions puts residents and domestic animals in danger.

“You’re putting people and animals in danger,” Retz said. “If somebody’s going to be out there with a gun, I just think it’s crazy.”

More information on how to keep coyotes out of residential areas is available from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.