Juliet illuminated by a streetlight. Photo by David Lei

By Bonnie Eissner

New York is renowned for its nightlife, but local photographers David Lei and Jacqueline Emery have a knack for revealing how the city truly comes alive at night. 

They helped endear Flaco, the escaped Eurasian eagle-owl, to New Yorkers through their evocative images posted on Instagram and published in The New York Times and in their own book. 

Now, they’re drawing attention to two other nocturnal creatures: the first coyote couple to live in Central Park. 

Romeo and Juliet having a nocturnal nuzzle on Central Park’s Delacorte Theater stage. Photo by Jacqueline Emery

In June, Smithsonian magazine ran a photo-filled article by Lei and Emery about their six years of tracking the elusive canines, affectionately dubbed Romeo and Juliet. Under the cover of night, the handsome lovers emerge to stake and explore their territory. They lounge in the Delacorte Theater and stroll along East Drive. With their thick coats, bushy tails, and muscular bodies, they bear little resemblance to Wile E. Coyote, their scrawny, hapless cartoon cousin. 

But, as Lei and Emery note in the article, the coyotes, who are predators, are polarizing. That is especially true in other urban areas where coyotes have consumed pets or bitten people. The photographers wanted to promote positive stories about the new park inhabitants. 

Lei’s Instagram feed indicates they are having some success. Followers responded to posts about the coyotes and the article with comments like, “Great story and photos, I hope to see Romeo & Juliet one day.” 

Last week, WNYC aired an interview with Lei and Emery about the coyotes, including audio of coyote howls almost harmonizing with city sirens. While the public and media interest is rewarding, the photographers worry about the coyotes’ well-being. 

The coyotes on Central Park’s Great Lawn. Photo by Jacqueline Emery

For one, Romeo and Juliet have yet to produce pups despite being together since 2023. Lei and Emery even observed them mating on Valentine’s Day this year. 

“There could be a health reason,” Lei told West Side Rag, referring to the coyotes’ failure to reproduce.  

Coyotes eat rats, and Lei and Emery have seen Romeo and Juliet hunt this plentiful park food source. The photographers wonder about whether the coyotes’ fertility has been affected by ingesting rodenticides, which were found in lethal levels in Flaco the owl after he died. They acknowledge, though, that they haven’t verified the science of that. 

Anticoagulant rodenticides have poisoned coyotes in other urban areas, such as Denver, which upsets Lei and Emery. 

“I’m really fearful these guys are going to get sick,” Emery said. 

Beyond health issues, there are logistical challenges to the coyotes rearing young in a crowded park. Coyotes need multiple dens in secluded areas to raise their pups, and Lei and Emery are concerned that they haven’t yet found safe spots.

“There are places in Central Park that are supposed to remain relatively wild,” Lei said. “They’re fenced off. You’re not supposed to go in there, but it’s Central Park, people jump fences and go have a picnic on a rock…They let their dogs run around inside.” 

Still, Lei and Emery hope that the coyotes, who are monogamous and mate for life, will become parents. 

“That’s one of the reasons that we want to tell people about them,” Lei said. He added that they want to encourage park visitors to give the coyotes more space, to leash their dogs at designated times and in designated areas, and “to be understanding and supportive as a community if they ever do have pups.” 

A nighttime stroll in Central Park. Photo by David Lei

While the two coyotes previously found in Central Park in 1999 and 2006 were captured by authorities, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation now promotes coexistence with the coyotes in Central Park. The same policy applies in the parks of other New York City boroughs where coyotes have been found,  most prevalently in the Bronx, where Romeo and Juliet likely were born, and also in Queens.

“Residents can safely coexist with these animals,” the Parks Department said in a statement that listed guidelines for people to follow. Among the department’s advice: observe them from a distance, do not feed wildlife, and “always monitor pets when outside and keep them leashed.” 

Larger dogs, the Parks Department stated, may be perceived by the coyotes as competitors, which may lead to confrontations. Small dogs and cats may be viewed as potential prey by coyotes.

Asked how it justifies keeping coyotes in Central Park, which is teeming with people and pets, the NYC Parks Wildlife Unit said in a statement, “It is rare for a coyote to bite people or their pets,” and it reiterated the precautions to take.  

Last year in San Francisco, where about 100 coyotes live, a yearling killed three dogs and lunged at a group of school children. Scientists told The New York Times that the problem was people. By leaving the remains of their picnics in parks and scraps in other public places, they encouraged the canines to associate humans with food. Letting small dogs off-leash in known coyote areas also tempted danger, the scientists said. 

Lei and Emery wonder, too, if a scarcity of food for San Francisco’s many coyotes makes some undernourished and therefore more aggressive.

“It’s not instinctual for them to want to be confrontational,” Emery said. “It’s the opposite. They want to avoid.”

Relaxing on a compost mound in the park. Photo by Jacqueline Emery

Romeo and Juliet are eating well, Lei observed. Besides rats, they dine on raccoons and Canada geese.

During the day, Romeo and Juliet rest. They stay largely hidden until dusk or later, when they emerge to hunt, frolic, and, in the winter, mate. 

“They’re just like dogs,” Lei said. “They’re super smart. They’re social.”

“They’re clearly very, very playful,” Emery, an Upper West Sider and dog owner, said. “They’ll jump on each other, just like dogs play with one another.” 

Ultimately, Lei and Emery are optimistic that Manhattanites will live peacefully with their shy neighbors.

“If they’ve figured it out in the Bronx, we can figure it out in Central Park,” Lei said.

Sightings of coyotes in the city should be reported to the WildlifeNYC Report a Sighting page. The Parks Department’s Wildlife NYC website also provides information on the abundant wildlife living in New York. 

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