Hal, the Central Park Coyote, Dies

[phantom power]

Strange, and sad.

March 31,2006 | ALBANY, N.Y. -- Hal, the coyote who paid a visit to New York City and was captured as he loped around Central Park, died as he was being tagged for release in the wild, a state official said Friday.

The coyote stopped breathing Thursday night during the routine tagging procedure and biologists could not revive him, said Gabrielle DeMarco, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Pathologists were trying to determine whether the stress of his capture or captivity or something else contributed to the death of the year-old, 35-pound coyote.

The coyote, nicknamed Hal by park workers, led dozens of police officers on foot and in a helicopter on a wild chase through the urban greenery March 21 and 22. He jumped into the water, ducked under a bridge and leaped over an 8-foot fence.

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8GMSI204.html

[aquart]

1. They killed Hal!

He was happy in Central Park. Happy.

[Olney Blue]

2. RIP, Hal.

[ladjf]

3. He died while they were installing a "routine id tag".

Easy for me to second guess. But, they should have tranquilized him before stapling the tag in his ear. Or, perhaps one of the subcutaneous radio tags.

[kestrel91316]

4. Oh, they DID tranquilize him before putting the tag in his ear...........

trust me. They would NOT attempt that in an awake wild coyote, lol!!!!!!!!! My guess is they OD'ed him with the tranquilizer. Maybe they overestimated his weight. If they are still using M-99, that stuff is NASTY and dangerous. It's the dart gun drug.

[henslee]

5. The animal should not have died.

[kestrel91316]

6. Unfortunately, there is always that risk. Anesthesia, particularly in a

wild animal of unknown medical status, is risky business. I NEVER schedule an anesthetic procedure until I have actually examined an animal. I get that luxury as a cat vet in suburban LA. Animal control people dealing with their first coyote (ever?) in an uncontrolled setting with an animal of unknown status is just risky. Period. But they have to take that risk and do their jobs.

Nobody ever guaranteed life would be all happiness and roses.

[henslee]

7. Yeah. I guess you just have to roll the dice sometimes. I met another

vet on DU. She's in NY... gave me some solid advice regarding my dog's hypertension.

Cats in L.A surely know a thing or two about coyotes. I can never understand owners who put bells on their cats. I know they are trying to avoid "dead-bird" presents, but it sure puts a cat in danger. I used to live in L.A. Once I was driving on Topanga at night and saw coyotee freeze in my headlights with a fat white persian cat in its mouth.

Nothing's sadder than those missing cat signs in L.A.

[kestrel91316]

9. That's why I tell all myclients "KEEP YOUR CATS IN!!!"

[blindpig]

8. M-99!

I can't believe they still use that stuff. I was a zookeeper in the 70's and witnessed several animals killed by that stuff. In one case two young Eland did not survive the capture procedure. After darting the beasts could not be caught (they were darted in the yard) and ran until they collapsed and could not be revived. What really burned my ass was poor Sammy the California Sea Lion. He had been suffering from fungus problems due to our inadequate facilities and it was decided he needed a full lab exam. So the zoo vet, the assistant director and myself played let's guess the weight! I said 125, the vet said 150 but the a.d. said nope, dose him for 200. Poor Sammy weighed 125 post mortem. Scandalously poor procedure. While the state of the art at that time was somewhat primitive that critter died because of human ego as our boss was not to be gainsaid by a hippie or a woman. He had a pre-war Austrian veterinary license but could not practice in the US.

I just can't believe that nothing better has been found .:shrug:

[kestrel91316]

10. I don't know for a fact that M-99 is still in us. I used it in my

post because that's the drug I remember learning about in anesthesiology, that was used then (1980's) in wildlife, that they put in the dart guns.

They warned us that a dose of M-99 big enough to bring down a large wild animal was MORE than enough to kill a human outright, so they said NEVER get shot with the stuff!

I have no idea what they use these days, but ANY anesthetic in these circumstances carries a certain risk.