It’s only Wednesday, but this week has already seen two bizarre events. First the forgotten bomb shelter under the Brooklyn Bridge was discovered, and now a coyote has been captured in Central Park. The furry invader managed to elude the authorities for quite some time before it was shot with a tranquilizer gun and given the rather uninsipired nickname Hal.
Of course, this is by no means the first time wild animals have been spotted or captured in New York City.
Alligators
Ask most New Yorkers, and they’ll tell you that the alligators reputed to live in New York’s sewer system are only urban myths. However, quite a few of these fierce reptiles have been discovered in the city over the years. You can find an amusing list of alligator sightings at this website.
The Wild Parrots of Brooklyn
No one knows for sure how a large and boisterous flock of South American parrots came to take up residence in parts of Brooklyn. The most promising theory states that, sometime in the 1960s, a shipment of birds bound for pet stores was accidentally released at JFK Airport. Since then, the number of wild parrots in Brooklyn has exploded, and the birds have found themselves with many friends—and many enemies—in New York. An excellent website entirely devoted to the parrots can be found here.
Seals
In 2001, seals began to make a comeback in the waters surrounding New York City. For decades they had avoided the harbor, which was foul, polluted, and often quite smelly. Now seals can be found sunning their fat, brown bodies in all five boroughs of the city.
Tigers
In 2003, police disovered a 400+ pound tiger living in the apartment of a man named Antoine Yates. (Along with a three foot alligator.) In order to capture the beast, a police officer rapelled down the side of Mr. Yate’s buiding, and fired a traquilizer gun at the tiger through an open window. The tiger is currently living in a much more suitable environment: Ohio.
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