Coyotes howl on deserted downtown San Francisco streets at night, video shows

Two coyotes howl on a deserted downtown San Francisco street in a video posted by a resident of the city’s North Beach neighborhood, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Nick Delia shot the video at Greenwich and Powell streets from his nearby apartment. In the video, the howling coyotes are answered by other distant howls, according to the publication.

People across San Francisco have been reporting seeing more coyotes out and about as coronavirus lockdowns empty streets of shoppers and tourists, McClatchy News previously reported.

Wildlife also has reappeared in other cities around the globe shut down by coronavirus, from monkeys in Thailand to deer in Japan, The New York Times reports.

In New Orleans, hungry rats have been spotted swarming French Quarter streets after restaurant closures deprived them of leftover food, McClatchy News previously reported.

While the absence of people may be emboldening animals to venture into once-public places, coyotes have been making a comeback in San Francisco since nearly being wiped out in the 1940s, KQED reported.

Coyotes have repopulated urban parks in the city, including the Presidio, Glen Canyon and Golden Gate Park, possibly in the dozens, in recent decades, according to the station. Their numbers now appear to be stable, San Francisco Animal Care and Control says.

This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Coyotes howl on deserted downtown San Francisco streets at night, video shows."