Coyotes Spotted at New York City Campus

(Feb. 8) -- Officials at Columbia University have issued a warning to students and faculty after three coyotes were spotted on the New York City campus over the weekend.

The animals were first seen in front of Columbia's Lewisohn Hall at Broadway and West 116th Street in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan.

Several students and a public safety officer at the Ivy League school spotted the wandering animals and notified police. None of the coyotes was captured, however.


Located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Columbia's iconic urban campus is not the first place one would expect to find coyotes. But these were not the first to hit the city's streets in recent months. In January, a coyote was spotted in Harlem. It was caught by an emergency services unit and transferred to the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo. Another coyote was spotted this past November in South Jamaica, Queens.

New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe told CNN that, while rare, at least three other coyotes had been spotted in Manhattan over the past 10 years.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, coyotes are a threat to pets like cats and dogs, and they can carry diseases such as distemper, hepatitis and rabies, which are potentially harmful to humans.

"All members of the community are advised not to approach these animals," Diana M. Pennettie, director of public safety for neighboring Barnard College, said in a statement.