A lone male coyote surprised biologists by swimming two miles from Angel Island to the remote Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay earlier this year. Initially, experts at the National Park Service assumed the animal traveled from San Francisco, which is only one mile away. However, DNA analysis of scat and tracks confirmed the coyote originated from Angel Island, navigating challenging ocean currents that historically thwarted human prison escapees. Wildlife ecologist Bill Merkle praised the animal’s resilience, while Project Coyote founder Camilla Fox noted that such a long-distance swim is exceptionally rare. Although officials planned to relocate the coyote to protect seabird nesting habitats, the animal has not been sighted since January, and there is currently no evidence it remains on the island.