The San Diego Humane Society has released nine orphaned coyotes back into the wild after raising them at the Ramona Wildlife Center in southern California.
Project Wildlife staff, in collaboration with the San Diego River Park Foundation, released the coyotes at Eagle Peak Preserve near Julian on August 26.
After being released, the coyotes darted into the wild, though some paused briefly to check their environment first. The coyotes, now about six months old, arrived at the centre at different times between March and May when they were around 4-6 weeks old.
Initially, Project Wildlife staff bottle-fed these young pups until they were old enough to eat on their own. Now the team have placed them in an outdoor habitat and will monitor them from a distance to prevent human imprinting.
