Campus Wildlife

According to California Fish and Wildlife, coyotes are smart adaptable canines that have learned to survive, and often thrive – in urban and residential areas. Coyotes play an important role in the ecosystem, helping to keep rodent populations under control. They are by nature fearful of humans. However, if coyotes are given access to human food and garbage, their behavior changes. They lose caution and fear. They may begin to harass domestic livestock and pets or threaten human safety.

UCLA has coyotes on campus and we need your help ensuring they know to be afraid of stay away from humans and keep them wild. Review this page for more details on safety and living with coyotes: Keep Me Wild: Coyotes and follow the guidance below. This will help keep our campus safe, and also keep the coyotes safe, as coyotes that become aggressive and habituated to being close to humans often must be euthanized.

If you encounter a coyote on campus – and it sees you:
Keep a safe distance. Do NOT approach or attempt to interact with the coyote. Clap hands, make noise (e.g., whistle, noisemaker), and allow it to move away on its own.

If you encounter a coyote – and it approaches you:
Make yourself look bigger by lifting and waving arms.
Make noise by yelling, using noisemakers, or whistles. If small children are present, keep them close to you.
Please also report any unusual coyote behavior to sustainability@ucla.edu, our office will coordinate with campus pest management, LA Animal Services, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife as necessary.

If you encounter a coyote – and it attempts to attack a person or pet:
Get to a safe location.
Notify UCLA at sustainability@ucla.edu and we will coordinate with authorities and California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
If a person was bitten or scratched by the coyote, call 9-1-1 and seek medical attention.

As cute as they are, its really important not to feed squirrels on campus and to not feed wildlife in general. Handouts by well-meaning people can result in wildlife losing their natural fear of humans. According to CDFW, animals that feed on human sources of food may lose their ability to forage naturally. Potential negative results in wildlife include increased aggression toward humans, unnatural increases in population and increased death rates from the spread of diseases.

If you want to help spread the word you can share this flier: Don’t Feed Squirrels (PDF)

2025 LA County Public Health notice: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/phcommon/public/media/mediapubhpdetail.cfm?prid=5176

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is urging people to stay alert after confirming 61 rabid bats so far in 2025, the second-highest total ever recorded in LA County. Only 2021 saw more, with 68 rabid bats confirmed.

While rabid bat detections can vary from year-to-year, this increase continues a decade-long upward trend. Awareness and prevention remain the best defenses against rabies exposure for both people and pets.

“Bats are vital to our environment, but they can also carry rabies, a disease that is almost always fatal once symptoms appear,” said Muntu Davis, MD, MPH, Los Angeles County Health Officer. “Anyone who may have had contact with a bat should immediately speak with their medical provider or contact Public Health. Never touch a bat or any wild animals. Immediately report any bat found indoors, or outdoors if it appears sick, active during the day, unable to fly, or dead, to Animal Control.

What Counts as Contact or Exposure

Exposure to a rabid bat, or a bat that might have rabies, happens anytime saliva or tissue from the bat could enter the body, such as through a bite, scratch, or contact with a wound, mouth, nose, or eyes.

Because bat bites are often so small they can go unnoticed, anyone who wakes up to find a bat in the room, or finds a bat near a sleeping person, child, or pet, should treat it as a possible exposure and contact Animal Control or Public Health right away.

If possible, do not release the bat so it can be safely collected and tested for rabies.

The most important rule is simple: never touch a bat or any wild animal and never allow pets to interact with them. Even small or unnoticed bites can transmit rabies.

Other safety practices include:

• Report and Test: If you find a bat in your home, especially near a sleeping person, child, or pet, carefully cover it with a box or container and call Animal Control immediately for collection and testing. Do not release it.
• Seek medical advice immediately: If a bat cannot be tested or tests positive for rabies, consult a physician or Public Health right away. Rabies is preventable with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), a series of timely vaccines.
• Vaccinate your pets: Rabies is 100% fatal in animals once symptoms begin, but completely preventable through vaccination. This includes vaccinating indoor-only cats and older pets. Protecting your pets from rabies is one of the best ways to protect your whole family.
• Recognize signs of illness in bats: Bats that are active during the day, on the ground, or unable to fly may be sick. Contact Animal Control immediately for assistance. For post-exposure guidance, reach out to Veterinary Public Health at 213-288-7060.
• Know the risk: About 14% of bats that come into contact with people or pets in LA County test positive for rabies, rising to as high as 33% in late summer.

Residents can learn more about what to do if they encounter a bat by reviewing Public Health’s fact sheet: What To Do If You Find A Bat (PDF)

If you find injured birds or wildlife on campus, please call or text CSO Nurit Katz at 818-384-9493. She will coordinate with you on capture and transport as needed.

With young birds, often they can be on the ground and appear injured. Here is some guidance on how to know if they are in need of help: One of UCLA’s bird researchers on campus notes: “Knowing when a young bird is “supposed” to be out of the nest vs. when it’s not supposed to is key when dealing with these sorts of situations. It’s important to remember that nests are unsafe places to be; it’s easier for a predator to kill four chicks that are in the same cup of sticks and hair than four chicks that are in four different parts of their parents’ territory. As a result, parents will push their chicks out of the nest before they’re fully able to fly, and take care of itself.

• If you have to chase after the chick to catch it, it’s old enough to let it’s parents take care of it outside the nest. If it’s out in the open, or in a dangerous place try herding it to the nearest shrub or other protected place. Mom and dad know where the fledgling is and will feed it discretely.
• If the bird is sitting upright and is alert, it probably has recently left the nest. Check the wings, if the wings are fully or partially feathered (as opposed to being in gray-looking sheaths), it’s old enough to be outside of the nest. If it’s out in the open, or in a dangerous place, you can move it to a place nearby with greater safety.
  
  Starling Fledglings near the Residence Halls
• Most “baby” birds you find will fit in above. In both cases, they are where they need to be. Even if it looks like they’re abandoned, they aren’t, the parents are just making sure not to lead predators to their offspring. Trying to rescue it means a lot more work and stress for you and the wildlife rehabber you take it to, when the parents will almost certainly do a better job for free.
  
  So: when should you interfere with nature?

• Very young nestlings (ie mostly naked, no or few feathers, can’t sit up, appears helpless). It might have fallen out of the nest; if so look around to see if you can find the nest. If so, put it back, if not, follow the directions in the article cited below, and then bring the nestling to a licensed rehabber.
  
  Junco Nestlings on campus
• The chick is obviously injured (ie broken wings or legs.) In this case, bring the chick to a licensed rehabber. If you know or suspect the chick was grabbed by a cat, bring it to a rehabber immediately! This is because cat mouths are breeding grounds for all sorts of nasty bacterial that kill birds, and any bird that has been exposed to cat teeth needs to be given antibiotics ASAP.
  
  Some additional information can be found in this helpful article from Audubon, When You Should—and Should Not—Rescue Baby Birds: https://www.audubon.org/news/when-you-should-and-should-not-rescue-baby-birds

Sometimes bees can swarm or build hives on campus. UCLA recognizes the critical role pollinators like bees play in our food system and ecology. We work with a company to ensure that bees are live captured and relocated and not killed. See photo attached of a swarm removal from on a car.  If you discover a hive on campus or swarm that needs removal please call Facilities Management Trouble call at 310-825-9236, they will coordinate the response.

There are also managed bees on campus as part of a formal program, on the roof of Life Sciences. This issue of the Magazine also highlights the new Bruin Apiary and Bruin Beekeepers. Quite the buzz!