The city is bringing in a trapper to deal with a coyote seen wandering around a playground in south Ottawa over the weekend.
The coyote was spotted in the park behind the Greenboro Community Centre, just north of Hunt Club Road.
Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans said the animal appears to be sick and has become habituated to the neighbourhood.
“It seems to have mange, it doesn’t have hair on its tail … that’s a particular concern because you don’t know how that animal will react,” said Deans. “Even though coyotes are not natural predators of humans and we don’t expect it to attack a human, it is concerning when they start coming that close.”
Deans, whose constituency office is in the Greenboro Community Centre, said the city hopes to get approval today from the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources to hire a trapper to deal with the coyote.
Linda Anderson, the city’s chief of bylaw and regulatory services, said it was unusual to see a coyote in such a built-up area. Under normal circumstances, coyotes would avoid humans, but they are often drawn to food or organic waste left out in the open.
