In early January, a young coyote swam over a mile from the San Francisco mainland to Alcatraz Island, the site of the notorious former federal prison. It is the first documented coyote on Alcatraz since the island came under the control of the National Park Service in 1972. Despite its frigid swim, it appears to be in healthy condition.
A video taken by a tourist shows the shivering and thin coyote, about a year old, struggling up the rocky coast of Alcatraz Island after completing a grueling, roughly 1.25-mile paddle in turbulent, 50-degree water. Concern over its chance of survival, however, has been relieved as photos taken by visitors about three weeks later show the coyote thriving.
The federal government shut down the high-security prison in 1963 after nearly three decades in operation, turning it into a museum that attracts over a million visitors every year. It housed some of the country’s most dangerous criminals, including mob boss Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Despite the heavily fortified island and the strong currents of the Pacific standing between the inmates and freedom, 36 men tried to break free in 14 separate escape attempts. All were caught or died except for three, whose fate remains a mystery. Sixty-three years later, instead of escaping from Alcatraz, the brave coyote decided it was time to escape to Alcatraz.
Coyotes are common sights throughout San Francisco, with small packs dominating portions of the area. At about a year old, coyotes leave the territories in which they were raised to search for their own land. However, the coyote, who has since been named Floyd, was met with tough competition for territory. Christopher Schell, an assistant professor and urban ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley, told the New York Times, “that animal decided that it was probably easier to swim to Alcatraz than to stay and figure out where their small plot of land would be.”
It is rare for coyotes to swim long distances, but not unprecedented. A group of coyotes lived on Angel Island for nearly a decade, and others have been spotted on Bainbridge and Vashon Islands off the coast of Washington State. With the water temperature in the low-50s and rough currents pushing against him, it is a miracle Floyd made it to Alcatraz alive.
Three weeks later, the coyote appears to be thriving on the island, which has a plethora of gophers, birds, field mice and banana slugs for him to eat. However, conservationists have expressed concerns that he poses a threat to the roughly 35,000 protected seabirds that dwell on the island. The Park Service plans to relocate him to an undeveloped location in the Bay Area before seabird breeding season, which begins in a few weeks.
Others argue that relocation could harm him and would put him right back in the competition for territory, which is what forced him out in the first place. With only 22 acres of land, Alcatraz is a fraction of the size of a normal coyote territory, so it won’t sustain Floyd for long. In time, he will likely leave on his own in search of a mate.
Though the future for this courageous canine is unclear, his story has caught the country by storm. Best of luck, Floyd.
