Second in a series.
Seal Beach residents Annelle Baum and Elizabeth Knego are concerned about coyotes on Fourth Street. As of the day of the interview, which was Aug. 3, they had not reported the issue to the city’s online coyote portal. They said they would at the end of the interview.
(Not everyone shares their concerns about coyotes. See the results of a recent Sun poll question on page 6.)
According to Knego, the coyotes had taken over their block. Baum said they were on Fourth Street porches.
“They hang out at the corner of Third and Central Way,” Knego said.
The two women believed the coyotes were coming from River’s End Park.
Baum believed the Los Cerritos Wetlands restoration had pushed the coyotes into local neighborhoods.
In a July 22 email, Dr. Ted Stankowich, associate chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at California State University Long Beach, wrote that the restoration of the wetlands should not cause a significant impact on coyote activities. According to Stankowich, the wetlands would likely only support one pack.
Knego was worried about possible coyotes attacking children.
Coyote attacks on human beings are considered rare. However, there were three reported coyote attacks on children and on one adult earlier this year in the city of Carson, according to various news reports. The only confirmed fatal coyote attack on a human being, a 3-year-old child, occurred in 1981 in Los Angeles County.
“We need to protect our property and get them on their way. Everybody’s going to have to do it,” Baum said.
As reported in part one, Seal Beach Police Capt. Nick Nicholas, whose duties include running the SPBD animal control program, wrote on Aug. 13 that most reports they had received involved other wildlife rather than pets.
“The reports we have received generally involve other wildlife, such as rabbits, birds, squirrels, or unidentified animals that were reportedly killed by coyotes or were found deceased in an area where coyotes were also observed,” Nicholas wrote. He warned against treating every report as a confirmed event.
The Sun recently requested coyote data for the first six months of 2026 and for both 2025 and 2024.
“The Seal Beach Police Department reviewed data available in the MySealBeach where citizens can report coyote activity,” according to the Sept. 10 email from re*************@*********ca.gov.
“January 1 through June 30, 2026:** 2 reports
“Calendar year 2025:** 3 reports
“Calendar year 2024:** No reliable count available,” according to re*************@*********ca.gov
“For this review, the PD counted reports in which the submitted narrative specifically described a coyote physically attacking, injuring, or killing a domestic pet,” according to re*************@*********ca.gov
“The term ‘confirmed report’ should not be interpreted to mean that the City independently confirmed that a coyote caused each reported injury or death. These numbers reflect reports submitted to the City in which the reporting party expressly described a physical attack on a pet,” according to re*************@*********ca.gov
“The dedicated coyote reporting portal was launched in May 2025, so the MySealBeach data does not provide complete coverage for 2024. I would not characterize the 2024 total as zero because incidents may have been reported through dispatch, emails, telephone calls, or other contacts with City personnel before the portal was established,” according to re*************@*********ca.gov
“The figures above are limited to the records maintained by the City and reasonably identifiable within the MySealBeach reporting system,” according to re*************@*********ca.gov
Annelle Baum and Elizabeth Knego said a woman had been feeding coyotes in their area of town. They said the woman drove a black van. Other social media reports also say that some individuals may be putting out food and water for the animals.
Next: Feeding wildlife is illegal.