A lone coyote has officially accomplished what dozens of hardened criminals could not: reaching Alcatraz Island. Wildlife biologists initially assumed the plucky swimmer had paddled the relatively modest 1 mile (1.6km) from San Francisco. But DNA analysis from the University of California, Davis, revealed the truth: this coyote swam a whopping 2 miles (3.2km) from Angel Island, making the whole "escape from Alcatraz" legend look a bit pathetic.
"Our working assumption was that the coyote made the swim from San Francisco because it is a significantly shorter distance. We couldn't help being impressed by his accomplishment in making it to Alcatraz," said Bill Merkle, a National Park Service wildlife ecologist, in a news release that sounds suspiciously like a motivational poster. Camilla Fox, founder of the nonprofit Project Coyote, noted that while coyotes do swim, this particular journey was unprecedented: "We have never, ever heard such a story of a coyote making such a long journey in a pretty challenging ocean current."
The coyote was first spotted on video in early January, looking like the world's soggiest delivery driver as it struggled onto the rocky shore. Visitor Rebecca Husson, in town for a cousin's wedding, snapped photos of the creature later that month. "He looked like a drowned rat when he ended up on the island, and when we saw him he looked healthy and so beautiful," she told the Associated Press. Biologists suspect the coyote was searching for a mate or new territory - which, given the island's history of failed prison escapes, seems like a questionable real estate choice.
The National Park Service was all set to relocate the coyote to protect Alcatraz's seabird nesting habitat, but the clever canine has since vanished without a trace. Perhaps it took one look at the island's history - 14 escape attempts by 36 men, nearly all caught or killed by the cold current - and decided it was better to be a legend than a resident. Angel Island, meanwhile, was itself not easily colonized by coyotes, but they persevered. Fox urges visitors to respect coyote dens during pup season, because apparently even four-legged escape artists deserve some privacy.