Pasadena Coyote Complaints Drop 76 Percent After Years of Climbing

Reported coyote concerns in Pasadena fell 76 percent from January through May against the same months last year, reversing annual increases since 2023, according to a Public Health Department briefing the city’s Public Safety Committee will receive Wednesday.

The city has logged 109 coyote reports this year, according to a memorandum from Public Health Director Manuel Carmona. The drop follows a steady climb — from 322 reports in 2023 to 480 in 2024 and 545 in 2025.

Staff caution that complaints follow a seasonal pattern, rising in spring and fall when coyotes are more active, and that reports ran high from October 2024 through May 2025, peaking at 112 in April 2025.

The item is for information only, and the committee will take no binding action on it. Any change to the city’s coyote strategy rests with the full City Council, which in July 2023 directed staff to carry out five actions to better understand the local population and help residents protect their properties. Wednesday’s presentation reports that work’s progress.

The briefing will also tell members that four community reports of coyote attacks on people were investigated between January 2023 and June 2026, and that Pasadena Humane found no evidence or documentation of an attack in any case. Of the 1,456 concerns reported since January 2023, staff classify 48 percent as normal behavior, 38 percent as mildly habituated and 13 percent as aggressive habituated.

Much of the update covers the five directed actions. On outreach, the Public Health Department worked with Caltech, which took steps to reduce the food, water and shelter drawing coyotes to campus, and co-hosted community sessions there in December 2024 and September 2025. Staff held sidewalk talks in Madison Heights and San Pasqual during spring and fall 2025, where encounters ran higher; those talks flagged potential wildlife feeding, and the city posted signs warning that intentionally or unintentionally feeding wildlife is illegal and citable. The department also launched a “Be Coyote Safe” social media campaign, with two more educational videos planned for summer 2026 and spring 2027.

Staff report the online reporting system was upgraded, with the Department of Information Technology and the City Service Center, to capture the time and location of sightings, align behavior descriptions with threat levels and map concerns geographically to identify hotspots and attractants. Concerns are sorted into four threat levels, from green for normal behavior to red for a documented attack on a person.

Two actions were delayed by the Eaton Fire response. A coyote-expert panel first planned for spring 2025 is now set for October 2026 to review recent urban-coyote research, and a Humane Wildlife Control field study — secured in December 2024 to assess four neighborhoods through canvassing and fixed cameras — is expected this summer.

To help residents protect their properties, staff issued a social media toolkit and flyer in April 2025 outlining practices that comply with city zoning, fencing and property-maintenance rules, and piloted a loan program for deterrent devices. Motion-activated sprinklers proved popular and effective; handheld sonic deterrents drew less interest and too little feedback to judge.

Carmona writes that feeding — intentional or not — and trash access remain the primary attractants behind most conflicts, and that while conditions have improved in places, more work remains to fully carry out the council’s directives. Staff will invite the committee’s feedback.

The Public Safety Committee meets at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, in the Council Chamber, Room S249, Pasadena City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-4124 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.