A pesky pack of wild coyotes wandering the grounds of LaGuardia Airport will be trapped and euthanized, officials say.
A Port Authority spokesman says the coyotes have been taken up residence on a vacant lot that was recently converted to a parking lot at the Queens airport.
"The coyotes pose a threat to our employees and members of the community, including children who use nearby baseball fields," the Port Authority said in a statement to NBC 4 New York. "Repeated efforts to force the coyotes to leave the area have not succeeded."
The agency said it developed the cull plan with approval from the Department of Environmental Conservation. It will be carried out by officers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Coyotes have been spotted periodically in New York City since the 1990s. Experts estimated last year that the population was probably at least in the teens. They say New Yorkers should expect to see more of them as they become more comfortable adapting to city streets and parks.
Coyotes were once creatures of Midwestern plains and southwestern deserts. But they have dramatically expanded their range in the last two centuries, partly because of declines in their predators, such as wolves and cougars, experts say.
Wildlife experts say people can reduce the risk of coyote conflicts by not feeding them and securing trash and pets, among other steps.
