A field study commissioned by the Pasadena Public Health Department found coyote activity typical and low-threat in most of the four neighborhoods it examined but identified one human-conditioned, dog-reactive male that had been fed by someone, according to the report the department published.
The department hired Humane Wildlife Control in December 2024 to study neighborhoods with elevated reports of coyote activity, using in-person canvassing and fixed cameras, after the City Council gave direction in July 2023, according to Manuel Carmona, director of public health. That month the council voted for non-lethal approaches, including working with neighboring communities and bringing in coyote experts. The work was delayed by the Eaton Fire, though the city says the findings remain relevant.
The report, dated Oct. 22 and prepared by Rebecca Dmytryk of Humane Wildlife Control, covers fieldwork from Dec. 8 to 22, 2024, in neighborhoods east of Caltech, around Mayfield Junior School, south of the 210 Freeway near John Muir High School and north of Marshall Fundamental Secondary School, with a follow-up near Mayfield in late March 2025.
Near Mayfield, the male coyote was hazed aggressively and the pair was not seen on that street for at least two weeks, the report says. It found overflowing commercial bins at Tournament Park, overflowing multifamily dumpsters and fence gaps at the Patton, Lombardy and Sheldon reservoirs.
The report states that “lethal removal efforts have consistently failed to reduce populations or resolve conflicts.”
Its recommendations include keeping trash lids closed and bins from overfilling, enforcing restrictions on wildlife feeding, reinforcing fencing at reservoirs and natural areas, reducing harborage on private property and teaching residents effective hazing and how to reduce attractants.
Deliberately feeding coyotes is prohibited by Pasadena Municipal Code Section 6.32.110, according to the city. The department urges residents to aggressively haze any coyote that appears too comfortable around people and to report illegal wildlife feeding, and says staff continue to work on the remaining recommendations.
Human food sources matter elsewhere in the region: a National Park Service study of more than 3,100 scat samples found garbage, ornamental fruit and domestic cats made up 60 to 75 percent of urban coyote diets, with cat remains in 20 percent of urban scat.
“They would not sit there and starve to death,” NPS ecologist Justin Brown said in 2020.
“Coyotes are at increased risk of becoming food conditioned or habituated,” the California Department of Fish and Wildlife says, urging residents to secure trash, recycling and pet food.
In April 2025, a coyote went after a woman and her dog near Euclid Avenue and California Boulevard before bystanders drove it off with sticks, KFI AM 640 reported. The state agency advises keeping a distance, making loud noise and appearing larger, and fighting back if a coyote makes contact. Pasadena Humane advises keeping cats indoors and picking up fallen fruit.
Aggressive coyote behavior can be reported to the City Service Center at (626) 744-7311 or https://www.cityofpasadena.
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