Catch me if you can: How Wile E Coyote gave New York's finest the runaround

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbbWb1xri2Uendofvid
[starttext]
By Daily Mail Reporter

On the run: The coyote shortly after she was first spotted emerging from the Holland Tunnel into Manhattan


For a while it looked as though she'd outwitted the fire-power and resources of New York's finest but in the end there was no escape.

Dubbed Wile E Coyote, after the cartoon character, the 30lb female coyote was first spotted emerging from Holland Tunnel into Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon before darting into traffic.

The tunnel connects the island of Manhattan in New York City with New Jersey on the mainland.

Drivers and passersby alerted police and up to 20 officers were dispatched, some with tranquilizer guns, to catch the one-year-old female.
Scroll down for video report


Cornered? Officers with tranquilizer guns were sent out to catch the coyote

'I thought it was a little wolf,' said 18-year-old painter Demetrius Jones. 'It looked scared.'

At one point they thought she was cornered in the TriBeca neighbourhood but she made another break for freedom and wasn't spotted again until yesterday.

Officers tracked her down to an open air car park at the corner of Watts Street and the West Side Highway. She was spotted hiding under a vehicle.

This time they managed to fire a tranquiliser dart into her before she got away again. The coyote was then taken away in a pet carrier to a rescue centre.

Detective James Coll, of New York's Emergency Service Unit, said: 'Our unit trains for any number of eventualities in the community. We do come across some strange things in the city but this one of the things that make this city as great as it is.'


Laying low: The coyote looks out from under a car as officers move in to catch her


I'm off: The coyote darted through traffic and escaped the officers pursuing her


'I thought it was a little wolf,' said 18-year-old painter Demetrius Jones. 'It looked scared.'

At one point they thought she was cornered in the TriBeca neighbourhood but she made another break for freedom and wasn't spotted again until yesterday.

Officers tracked her down to an open air car park at the corner of Watts Street and the West Side Highway. She was spotted hiding under a vehicle.

This time they managed to fire a tranquiliser dart into her before she got away again. The coyote was then taken away in a pet carrier to a rescue centre.

Detective James Coll, of New York's Emergency Service Unit, said: 'Our unit trains for any number of eventualities in the community. We do come across some strange things in the city but this one of the things that make this city as great as it is.'

Animal welfare officials will observe the animal before deciding where to take it. It is not sure whether the coyote came via the tunnel from New Jersey or was trying to head out of the city.


I need back-up! First time round the coyote made good her escape but a day later officers captured the one-year-old


Armed with tranquiliser guns, 20 officers were sent out to capture the coyote. The female was taken to an animal rescue centre after her capture, right

It is the fourth time this year a coyote has been spotted in 'downtown' Manhattan.

In February, three coyotes were spotted on the Columbia University campus.

As unusual as it sounds, coyotes do live in New York City and in larger numbers outside the city limits.

[endtext]