{
  "id": "2025-08-25-cornell-university-coyote-bite",
  "slug": "cornell-university-coyote-bite-2025-08-25",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Cornell University",
    "shortName": "Cornell",
    "state": "NY",
    "type": "private-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "CornellALERT",
    "enrollment": 26000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-08-25",
    "type": "other",
    "cleryCategory": "advisory",
    "headline": "Coyote bites an adult on a gorge trail, prompting a university-wide notification",
    "headlinePublic": "Coyote bites an adult on a gorge trail, prompting a university-wide notification",
    "summary": "On the evening of August 25, 2025, a coyote bit an adult on the Upper Cascadilla Gorge Trail near the Trolley Foot Bridge on the edge of Cornell's Ithaca campus, prompting a [University-wide community notification](https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2025/08/wild-coyote-spotted-on-campus-adult-victim-in-biting-attack) that evening. Cornell University Police [responded to Kimball Hall at about 6:45 p.m. EDT](https://www.wbng.com/2025/08/29/cornell-university-police-respond-on-campus-coyote-bite-incident/) and the medium-sized grey coyote was repeatedly seen roaming campus into the night.",
    "outcome": "The bitten adult, unaffiliated with the university, was urged to contact the Tompkins County Whole Health Environmental Health Division about possible post-exposure rabies treatment. Cornell said it was working with campus, local and state wildlife experts to address the coyote.",
    "resolution": "under-investigation"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Monday evening, August 25, 2025 (university-wide email sent the evening of the bite)",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "On Monday, August 25, 2025, at 6:45 p.m., Cornell University Police responded to Kimball Hall, 134 Hollister Drive, in the City of Ithaca for a report of a person who was bitten by a coyote. The person reported to be traveling west on the north side of the Upper Cascadilla Gorge Trail near the Trolley Foot Bridge when the incident occurred.\n\nThe coyote looks like a medium-sized dog with a grey fur coat. If the coyote can be located and observed to be healthy, the risk of rabies infection can be ruled out, and rabies post-exposure treatment for the person who was bitten will not be necessary.\n\nAnyone with information related to the location of the coyote is asked to contact the Cornell University Public Safety Communications Center at (607) 255-1111 or Tompkins County Whole Health Environmental Health Division at (607) 274-6688.\n\nCornell University Police reminds the public to avoid contact with any wild animals and the importance of reporting bites to Tompkins County Whole Health Environmental Health Division as soon as possible to determine if rabies post-exposure treatment is needed.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://publicsafety.cornell.edu/crime-alerts/community-notification-coyote-bite-cascadilla-gorge-trail/",
      "sourceDescription": "Cornell Division of Public Safety crime-alerts archive ('Community Notification - Coyote Bite Cascadilla Gorge Trail')",
      "annotations": [
        "Written in police-report register ('responded to Kimball Hall, 134 Hollister Drive, in the City of Ithaca') rather than directive alert language; the grammatical slip 'The person reported to be traveling west' is preserved from the original",
        "Describes the animal by analogy ('looks like a medium-sized dog with a grey fur coat') because most recipients cannot distinguish a coyote from a dog at a glance",
        "Unusually, the notification explains the rabies-protocol logic: locating a healthy coyote would spare the victim post-exposure treatment, which is why it asks the community for sighting reports rather than telling them only to stay away",
        "The notification is framed as a discretionary community/health advisory rather than a Clery timely warning, because a coyote bite is not a Clery-reportable crime even though it triggered a campus-wide message.",
        "Corrected 2026-07-19 to full four-paragraph body from publicsafety.cornell.edu (prior text omitted final wild-animal reminder paragraph and collapsed paragraph breaks)."
      ],
      "characterCount": 1102
    }
  ],
  "context": "The Upper Cascadilla Gorge Trail runs along the northern edge of Cornell's Ithaca campus near Oak Avenue and the Trolley Foot Bridge, a heavily used pedestrian route. On the evening of [August 25, 2025, Cornell University Police responded to Kimball Hall at about 6:45 p.m. EDT](https://www.wbng.com/2025/08/29/cornell-university-police-respond-on-campus-coyote-bite-incident/) for a report of a person bitten by a coyote while traveling west on the north side of the gorge trail. Cornell sent a [University-wide email that same evening](https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2025/08/wild-coyote-spotted-on-campus-adult-victim-in-biting-attack), and student journalists [visually confirmed the medium-sized grey coyote roaming campus into the night](https://www.fingerlakes1.com/2025/08/29/coyote-bites-person-near-cornell-trail/), with sightings reported near Teagle Hall around 11 p.m. EDT. The message urged the community to avoid contact with wild animals and to contact the Tompkins County health authorities about possible rabies post-exposure treatment. This is a representative example of a campus notification driven by wildlife rather than crime: the legal hook is health-and-safety discretion, not the Clery Act, but the delivery channel and tone mirror a timely warning.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Cornell used its University-wide email channel for a wildlife/health advisory, not a Clery timely warning, because a coyote bite is not a Clery-reportable crime",
    "The notification combined a specific location (Upper Cascadilla Gorge Trail near the Trolley Foot Bridge), a physical description (medium-sized grey coat), and a concrete health instruction (contact Tompkins County Whole Health about rabies post-exposure treatment)",
    "The victim was an adult unaffiliated with the university, illustrating that campus alerts often cover incidents involving non-students on or adjacent to campus property"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Community Notification - Coyote Bite Cascadilla Gorge Trail",
      "url": "https://publicsafety.cornell.edu/crime-alerts/community-notification-coyote-bite-cascadilla-gorge-trail/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Wild Coyote Spotted on Campus, Adult Bit - The Cornell Daily Sun",
      "url": "https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2025/08/wild-coyote-spotted-on-campus-adult-victim-in-biting-attack",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Cornell University Police respond to on-campus coyote bite incident - WBNG",
      "url": "https://www.wbng.com/2025/08/29/cornell-university-police-respond-on-campus-coyote-bite-incident/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Coyote bites person near Cornell trail - Fingerlakes1.com",
      "url": "https://www.fingerlakes1.com/2025/08/29/coyote-bites-person-near-cornell-trail/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "wildlife",
    "coyote",
    "advisory",
    "new-york",
    "rabies",
    "health-advisory",
    "cornell"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-28",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-19",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}