Officials Meet to Assess Coyote Danger at Park
National Park Service officials will meet this afternoon to decide if Cheeseboro Canyon Park in Agoura Hills should be reopened after four days of closure brought on by reports of coyote attacks.
Armed rangers patrolling the park Wednesday night failed to track the animals. Rangers spotted lone coyotes four times, but the animals shied away when approached.
Park officials said three nights of park surveillance by four rangers would give them enough information to decide whether it was safe to reopen the 2,100-acre park in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Bitten and Scratched
Last weekend, an Agoura man reported that he had been bitten and scratched on the arm and his horse nipped on the legs by a pack of three coyotes.
Park officials received four more reports earlier this week from visitors who said they had been stalked by a pack of aggressive coyotes. In one case, a couple reported being chased for a mile by the yelping animals.
Wildlife experts have said that it is uncharacteristic for coyotes to attack humans or large animals such as a horse.
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