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Police Capture Coyote In Riverside Park

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New Yorkers like to think of themselves as having seen it all, but a coyote on the loose in Riverside Park this weekend caused quite a scene.

As CBS2's Steve Langford reported, police cornered a wild coyote inside the Riverside Park basketball court Saturday night after several hours of chasing the animal.

Police Capture Coyote In Riverside Park

The coyote was first spotted by Riverside Park Administrator John Herrold on Friday.

"Where I saw her was, it would have been on the other side of the highway," said Herrold.

Herrold called park rangers, but the coyote slipped away.

"We didn't want to chase her onto the highway, so we didn't rush after her," he said.

Saturday, the animal gave rangers and police the runaround, until the emergency services unit came in for the close.

One of the reasons why it took so long to catch the coyote was the tranquilizer in the darts kept freezing, so they had to go back and get warm darts in order to make the catch has humane as possible, Langford reported.

"There is some wildlife here in the city, but I've never seen that kind of wildlife," said Upper West Side resident Kathleen Tracey.

The mere word coyote makes the ears of dogs and their owners perk up.

"(Barking) and I'm pretty sure that's how he would have reacted if he had seen it," said resident Sean Holmesby with his dog.

The coyote was initially taken to Animal Control in East Harlem before being released back into a wilderness area.

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