Vancouver Park Board to vote on penalties for feeding wildlife in city parks

Park board commissioners in Vancouver are set to approve a new bylaw that would fine people $500 for feeding wildlife in any city park. 

The bylaw, which commissioners will debate Monday night, has been months in the making as part of a response to aggressive coyote attacks in Vancouver's biggest park.

"People should never be feeding [animals] in any of our parks. Whether it's a squirrel or a raccoon or a coyote. As I say, it habituates them to human interaction and that's always dangerous," said Commissioner Stuart MacKinnon, who expects the bylaw to pass. 

"And there has to be some deterrent for those folks who don't take that into consideration."

The park board vote comes nearly a week after Stanley Park fully reopened following a two-week cull of coyotes. Four were trapped and euthanized, bringing the number of coyotes removed from the park since January to 11.

Since December, there have been 45 aggressive coyote attacks reported, some of which have included children. The last reported attack was on Aug. 12.

Officials say that feeding coyotes on purpose and leaving food out inadvertently has contributed to them becoming habituated to humans. They believe the feeding, some of it done to get close-up photos and videos of the animals, is one of the main factors behind the attacks.