Living Desert adopts baby coyote found near drainage ditch

A baby male coyote has been adopted by The Living Desert after the animal was found near a drainage ditch following a rainstorm in San Diego. Officials said it’s likely the coyote was abandoned by his mother after her den flooded.

They named the coyote pup ‘Stormy’. He’s estimated to be less than four weeks old.

The pup was brought to Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Ramona, which rehabilitates and releases animals back into the wild. They deemed the baby coyote would probably not be able to survive without his mother, so they contacted officials with The Living Desert, where he was relocated on April, 12, according to the zoo’s release.

Zoo officials said the baby coyote will be on display at The Living Desert beginning April, 30 during his daily feedings at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Tennity Wildlife Hospitals’ observance window.

“Part of the mission of The Living Desert’s Native Wildlife Conservation Program is to rehabilitate injured or orphaned native desert animals, so when we learned of this little pup’s rough start to life, we were eager to help him in all the ways we could,” said RoxAnna Breitigan, Director of Animal Programs at The Living Desert. “He’s doing great. We adore him and look forward to watching him grow and live a long healthy life at The Living Desert.”

According to Breitigan, hand-raised, bottle-fed coyote pups do not have a good chance at being released successfully back into the wild. Now that Stormy has been hand-fed and raised by humans, he has become comfortable around people and will rely on humans for food and shelter, further reinforcing the decision to make The Living Desert his new home.

Officials said the pup is currently being cared for at the wildlife hospital, but Stormy will eventually be introduced into the coyote exhibit.

More Information about The Living Desert