Creating a Howl : After a Public Outcry, Pasadena Officials Promise to Halt the Killing of Coyotes

Pasadena officials Tuesday pledged to halt plans to destroy a family of coyotes and pups after a public outcry over the killing of two coyotes on a golf course near the Rose Bowl earlier this week.

“We absolutely will not trap and shoot any more coyotes,” said Rose Bowl General Manager Greg A. Asbury, the Pasadena city official who also oversees operations at the city’s Brookside Golf Course next to the stadium.

Early Monday, workers from the Los Angeles County Department of Agriculture shot two coyotes on the golf course in the Arroyo Seco--950 acres of parkland stretching south from Angeles National Forest to South Pasadena. The workers also set traps to capture an estimated dozen coyotes, which reportedly were killing ducks at the course pond and were bothering some golfers.

Golfers and golf course officials say that they regularly see pups and adults on the fairway. On Tuesday, two coyote pups darted in and out of a narrow concrete culvert near the 11th hole, where there is apparently a den.

Local humane society officials reacted angrily to the killings and said they, along with city and golf course officials, were being besieged with phone calls. “There has been such a public outcry,” said Steve McNall, executive director of the Pasadena Humane Society. “People in Pasadena love their wildlife. They’re appalled.”

Officials with the American Golf Corp., the private contractor that operates the two 18-hole golf courses, saw the coyotes as potentially dangerous pests when they first sought help from agricultural officials. They refused to comment Tuesday, referring all inquiries to Asbury, who said he was outraged when he read a report in the Pasadena Star-News about the shootings.

Asbury said he told golf course officials that the city would not allow any more coyotes to be shot. County agriculture officials said they were contacted by the golf course Tuesday morning and told to retrieve the traps.

“We were in and out in a day. We won’t be back,” said Richard Wightman, deputy agricultural commissioner in charge of the noxious weeds and vertebrate pests division.

When golf course officials called to complain about the coyotes a few weeks ago, Wightman said, they cited “instances where coyotes chased a couple of golfers and a parking lot attendant.”

“We were asked to come in and help and we did,” he said.

Wightman said the Agriculture Department workers followed procedures provided for in state law, which allows the shooting of coyotes that pose a threat to agricultural livestock.

But Asbury said a Pasadena city ordinance protects all native plants and animals in the Arroyo Seco, although the golf course is exempt.

The killing of the coyotes violated the spirit of the city law, Asbury said. Furthermore, he said, livestock is not the issue in the Rose Bowl area, which is surrounded by single-family houses and is considered one of Pasadena’s nicest neighborhoods.

Asbury said he was working with officials from the Pasadena Humane Society and other organizations to try to determine what to do about the coyotes.

Citing the Orange County relocation in April of a family of red foxes living in an embankment of the Costa Mesa Freeway, Asbury said he was hopeful that the coyotes could be moved.

But Larry Sitton, wildlife supervisor of the state Department of Fish and Game office, said state laws generally do not allow for coyotes to be relocated.

He said that unless the animals become a threat to public safety, they should be left alone. “Enjoy the coyote,” he said, “It’s the closest you are going to get to wildlife.”