In what felt like an absolute fever dream, ABC7 News watchers were treated to a sight when a coyote passed behind an on-site news crew yesterday morning.
San Francisco is truly a wild place. There’s perhaps been no better crystallization of this observation as of late than this: a coyote filmed running behind an ABC7 News team covering the capture of San Francisco’s “wayward” mountain lion.
Your eyes do not deceive you. That’s a coyote strolling on by during ABC7’s Frances Wang live shot. Ironically, she was reporting on the capture of a 2-year-old mountain lion who was seen roaming around San Francisco streets. https://t.co/oLF6kRdF75 pic.twitter.com/4rIIVHrKMK
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) January 28, 2026
“Your eyes do not deceive you,” reads a post on X by the local ABC affiliate, reassuring watchers that they did, in fact, see a coyote cross the screen. “That’s a coyote strolling on by during ABC7’s Frances Wang live shot.”
Network reporter France Wang was among at least a dozen other journalists who descended around Lafayette Park to cover the capture of the wild mountain lion spotted in Pacific Heights. The irony was not lost on the news network, either — “Ironically, she was reporting on the capture of a 2-year-old mountain lion who was seen roaming around San Francisco streets.”
The network and its viewers were quick to pick up on the coyote’s brief cameo, while both celebrating and poking fun at San Francisco’s rising star in the “Jumanji” cinematic universe.
Earlier this month, a coyote was filmed for the first time in recorded history swimming to Alcatraz Island from San Francisco; the canine has since made a happy home for himself, and recent reports indicate he’s plumped up on the island’s abundant prey and scavenging sources — that coyote is the apex predator there now, after all.
Feature image: Screenshot via X
