Stanley Park businesses threaten legal action over aggressive coyote problem

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The owners of two businesses in Stanley Park are threatening to sue the Vancouver Park Board because of the aggressive coyote problem.

Wally Oppal, who represents the Prospect Point Bar and Grill says the restaurants have suffered financially over the attacks and they are considering legal action.

“The Park Board should have acted before, they haven’t, and that’s caused damages,” Oppal said.

He says the attacks have kept people out of the park, and the hit to their bottom line needs to be recovered. Oppal says he has put the City and the Park Board on notice about pending legal action.

“The park is now a danger to a lot of people. The Park Board has a responsibility to ensure that the park is safe for all people to go in there and they haven’t done that,” Oppal said.

This latest threat of legal action is on top of a suit already underway from the restaurants over the creation of bike lanes in the park, which limited parking.

Oppal says the city and park board haven’t done their job, or supported the businesses, and the latest 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. closure of Stanley Park is just another factor adding to their financial struggles.

“That’s really not acceptable, that’s not their job. Their job is to make the park safe for all citizens and they haven’t done that and that’s caused damages,” Oppal said.

Related Articles:

• Stanley Park to close from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. amid ongoing coyote attacks

• Three more coyote attacks in Vancouver’s Stanley Park

• Stanley Park coyote attacks force Vancouver Triathlon to change course

Since December 2020, more than 40 people have been attacked by coyotes in the park, and the BC Conservation Officer Service has euthanized seven animals.

The most recent attacks left three people, two of them children, with minor injuries. The first incident was around 5 p.m., when the park was still open. A four-year-old child was bitten while walking with their parents near Brockton Oval. The next two attacks happened after the park had closed. At around 9 p.m., a child was bitten near the Nine O’Clock Gun. Half an hour later, a man was bitten near Lost Lagoon.

Another coyote attack injured two kids in Stanley Park Tuesday night. As @KierJunos reports, education and preventing park access after hours seems to be the approach until the province can be pushed to do something about the aggressive coyotes. pic.twitter.com/7OuJylNn58

— CityNews 1130 Vancouver (Inactive) (@news1130) September 2, 2021

B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development Contacts says it will be “undertaking direct coyote management controls that includes lethal removal to ensure human safety.”

In a statement, the Ministry says it is working through logistical and safety considerations to implement as soon as possible.

With files from Monika Gul, Sonia Aslam, Kier Junos, and Tarnjit Parmar