The foothills above Monrovia are occupied by wildlife: bears, coyotes, deer, mountain lions, and bobcats. Sometimes these wild animals venture out of the foothills and into residential neighborhoods. Most of the time, the wildlife comes and goes without notice.

Occasionally, wildlife ventures down into the city and becomes a potential danger to humans. Police will respond when called to a wildlife sighting, and in most incidents, the primary goal is to allow the animal to leave the area and return back to the foothills. In most incidents, the officer's presence, use of vehicles, horns, beanbag rounds, is sufficient to encourage the animal to leave the area.

Living with Bears

The California Department of Fish & Wildlife presented a Living with Bears webinar for the Monrovia community. During this meeting, California Department of Fish & Wildlife shared safety tips on how to coexist with bears, how they respond to calls, and much more.

What You Can Do To Help

• Remove all potential food and shelter resources from your property, and securely contain compost, garbage, and gardens.
• Use garbage cans that have a locking mechanism on the lid. Use a rope or elastic cord to secure the can to a fence or other solid object so that it cannot be tipped over.
• Keep yard clear of overgrown plants, trim bushes at least one foot off the ground, and close off crawl spaces.
• Always accompany and supervise small pets when outside after dusk, and keep other domestic pets that live outside in secure wire cages overnight.
• Bear resistant barrels are available from Athens Services for residents who wish to prevent trash barrel from being broken into by bears. Residents who subscribe to this service will be provided one (1) black 90-gallon bear resistant barrel in lieu of a traditional trash barrel. 
  • Download an application. 

Coyote Encounters

Coyotes are present in our urban neighborhoods year-round and play an important role in the ecosystem, helping to keep rodent populations under control. When encountering a coyote, the followings are effective methods of getting coyotes to leave residential areas: 

• Active hazing includes raising arms and shouting, sounding off an air horn, throwing tennis balls, or spraying with a hose.
• Passive hazing includes setting out deterrents so the coyote feels uncomfortable even when you are not around, such as leaving a dirty sock near a den site, activating motion-sensing sprinklers, or installing coyote roller fencing.

More and more, people and wildlife are occupying the same geographical areas. The University of California Cooperative Extension has developed the Coyote Cacher as a way track coyote interactions in California. The information you provide will be used to help inform researchers of trends in human-coyote interactions. If you wish to participate in this survey, please submit your coyote encounter. 

Who to Contact 

For wildlife concerns, contact: 

Department of Fish and Wildlife South Coast Region 
(858) 467-4201

To report a coyote sighting, contact: 

Pasadena Humane Society Animal Control Dispatch 
(626) 792-7151 x 102

Additional Resources 

• Keep Me Wild - Do Not Feed Wildlife
• Living With Mountain Lions
• Living With California Black Bears
• San Gabriel Valley Wildlife Management Framework (SGVCOG) 
  • Includes information on feral cats, peafowl, coyotes, black bears, mountain lions, bobcats, deer, skunks, opossums, raccoons, rattlesnakes, and tree squirrels.