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People letting their dogs off-leash on the Preservation Park Trail is being seen as one of the main reasons for increased coyote activity in the area.
The trail will remain closed for at least another week or two as experts further investigate the situation, said Heather Flaherty, the city's general manager of parks and recreation on Monday.
Trail closure signs went up Friday. There are no barriers preventing access.
Bylaw officers will be conducting an education campaign along the trail, which has 27 entrances, starting on Tuesday. They will not be enforcing the closure, just education those still choosing to use the trail, Flaherty said.
A meeting was held Monday morning with the various city departments, the Guelph Humane Society and Coyote Watch Canada, which sent people to monitor the trail over the weekend.
Coyote Watch Canada is a federal not-for-profit organization that advocates positive human-wildlife experiences through education, research, mediation, intervention and conflict resolution.
"They found a number of items that could be contributing to the agressive nature of the coyotes," Flaherty said. "One of their biggest observations was that there are still a number of people on the trails allowing their dogs off leash.
"Number one, this is not allowed. Trails are not for off-leash purposes, and two, this activities could be triggering the behaviour of coyotes being protective of their young and thinking those dogs are going to their food sources," she said.
In addition to off-leash dogs, Coyote Watch Canada said there was evidence along the trail of people leaving food for other types of wildlife near the trail.
"This could be what's bringing the coyotes to that area," Flaherty said.
It is also hoped that in a couple of weeks the city will see a reduction in agressive and brazen behaviour along the trail by older coyotes as their pups get older and more independent.
The situation will be reassessed by Coyote Watch Canada at in a couple of weeks and reassessed at that point," Flaherty said.
"If people choose to ignore this request and go on the trail, then we are imploring that they keep their dogs on-leash." she said.
Most of the coyote reports have been in the eastern end of the trail.
"But we're trying to caution all users of that park, because they enter and exit at different points."
