{"id":2167076,"date":"2023-01-28T10:05:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T09:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2167076"},"modified":"2026-04-04T05:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:55:15","slug":"driving-wildlife-into-urban-areas-then-blaming-them-for-the-aftermath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/driving-wildlife-into-urban-areas-then-blaming-them-for-the-aftermath\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving wildlife into urban areas – then blaming them for the aftermath!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was around seven o\u2019clock last night when we spotted what we thought was a fox in Brackenridge Park, the creature came out of the shadows of the Joske Pavillion (No lights on). To our surprise it was a Coyote that ran by on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n

\"Coyote<\/a>
Coyote by Christo Salazar was taken at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. The Coyote in Brackenridge Park was in the shadows and ran away before we could videotape it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the spring of 2022, we spotted a wild turkey in the same Park.<\/p>\n

\"Turkey<\/a>
Turkey in Brackenridge Park last March by Christo Salazar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Have you ever wondered why wildlife does what it does? How does a Coyote end up in the middle of a city park such as Brackenridge Park? How does a 400-pound wild boar find it\u2019s way to a city golf course?<\/p>\n

According to Wyatt Walton of Lone Star Trapping, \u201cas San Antonio continues to flourish in population, there’s that much more native land having developments built on it. To accommodate the growth, native wildlife is just being pushed and pushed. Eventually, you [will] end up having instances with human interactions as [the wild animals] are just trying to survive.”<\/p>\n

Read: Monstrous 400-pound Feral Hog Invades Texas Golf Course, Is Caught and Tied Alive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How exactly did migratory Egrets and Herons end up in trees in the playground at Brackenridge Park, eventually nesting over picnic tables in 2022? Before you point a finger at the Birds turn it right around and point it at your fellow man, the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation and the USDA\u2019s Wildlife Services.<\/p>\n

\"Migratory<\/a>
Migratory chick in playground in 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since 2017 the city has \u201cmodified\u201d trees the birds nested in as an effort to chase them away it would appear without much thought to where they would end up per documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n

Those same documents would reveal the ugly truth of the USDA\u2019s use of a depredation permit for lethal take (killing) and destruction of eggs with viable embryos, a live offspring.<\/p>\n

The Waterbirds have lost habitat after habitat in the city as a USDA work initiation document would be amended from one park, Elmendorf Lake Park to include all 16, 237.5 Acres of Parks land.<\/p>\n

A flock of Cattle Egrets that roosted on \u201cBird Island\u201d in 2019 would be chased away, shot at, boards banging to \u201crelocate\u201d them from multiple areas.<\/p>\n