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Four coyote siblings are back in their natural habitat in Southern California. But, it’s a homecoming that almost didn’t happen.

When they were just young, defenseless pups, their mother was trapped and killed after she and other coyotes began living within an unwelcoming community. The coyotes were lured there by the presence of plentiful swimming pools for drinking water and fruit trees and open trash cans for food. To control the coyote population, some local residents resorted to lethal methods.

Fortunately, concerned residents and animal control officers were able to humanely trap these four pups, and they reached out to The Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Ramona, Calif. for assistance in raising them. Our Center’s species-specific outdoor enclosures and enrichment makes it possible for pups like these to grow in a protected environment while they learn skills necessary for survival on their own in the wild.

When it came time to release them last week, it was obvious they were ready. You can see them bolt out of their transport crates and away from humans. That’s a good sign.

With coyotes inhabiting almost all of North ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉú, they sometimes come into conflict with humans. We hope this story of the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of juvenile coyotes encourages communities to adopt humane ways of resolving conflicts with wildlife. They wouldn’t have stood a chance on their own without their mother.

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