Wildlife Expert Says Relax About ‘Aggressive’ Brookfield Coyote

On June 18th, 2024 I-95's Large Dave wrote an article titled "Beware: Aggressive Coyote Reported Inside Brookfield's Williams Park."

Dave wrote:

"If you've been enjoying yourself outside at Williams Park in Brookfield during this beautiful stretch of weather, Brookfield Parks & Recreation wants you to be aware that there's been a recent report of an aggressive coyote lurking inside the park. Williams Park is located on Rt. 25/ Whisconier Road, right across the street from the Brookfield Library."

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The community seemed very excited to read and talk about this. We were getting texts messages for days to the I-95 Morning Show so we decided to call in our wildlife expert Jen "The Zookeeper" to help us out. Here is some of that interview.

Lou: Dave published a nice, informational article about this "aggressive" coyote in Brookfield and everyone went bananas. One guy said shoot it, another accused us of fear mongering. You're the expert and you told us you've been bitten by a coyote, why don't you take it from here.

Jen: "That is right, unfortunately I've been bitten by many animals in my years of working in these organizations. It's a coyote, it's wildlife, if you get too close to it, it will either fight or flight. Most wildlife only have those two buttons and especially if the wild animal is sick or injured or protecting it's young, it tends to fight before it takes flight. I tried to find a good source about why the coyote is being aggressive but no one is saying. It could have quite simply just have been a person was walking through the park because it was found in a park and he came around the corner and maybe he was walking at dusk or dawn which is when these coyotes are most active and the coyote was there in the path and didn't back down because he didn't know what this person was doing in his path. So, he just looked at him, it could have just been that. The fact that a coyote does not back down unfortunately labels them as aggressive. It could have just been he was walking through his territory trying to find food, it could have been he's trying to find territory. The young males and females, I'd say at about 6 months of age they try and go out and find their own territory. It could have just simply been, wrong place at the wrong time. I'll tell you that person should be happy that we're only worried about coyotes and not wolves and mountain lions at this point."

AKA - Relax. The animals will likely only mess with you if you mess with them.

There was so much more to our conversation with Jen and you can listen to the entire interview below.

More on Jen "The Zookeeper"

Jen has been immersed in the conservation & science education field for over 30 years. While working as Director of Animal Care for The New Canaan Nature Center in Connecticut, she was responsible for the care of native wildlife and birds of prey, while teaching the public about the roles of these wild neighbors.

While with the Bronx Zoo and Los Angeles Zoo, Jen’s main priority was the care of exotic hoof stock, again while teaching the public about the delicate balance of humans & habitats. While working with a wildlife sanctuary in Half Moon Bay, CA, Jen played a major role in the wildlife training and handling of some 50 exotic species.

Her major focus was creating curriculum for a variety of programs including at-risk and foster youth programming. These programs encompassed helping fragile children gain a sense of trust and worthwhile developing a healing relationship with the non-releasable wildlife at the sanctuary.

Currently, Jen is the owner and sole proprietor of Jen Kotkin Pet Care, providing pet care as well as mental and physical exercise & stimulation for dogs, cats, horses, birds, and more!

Jen continues to create a variety of programs that cater to the needs of many organizations. Her passion for teaching about the natural world to those around her is important, and hopes to ignite this spark for others, just as it did for her!

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