Coyote Bites Man Near Rutgers Campus, Police Say

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A man affiliated with Rutgers University said he was bitten by an aggressive coyote early Thursday morning while walking alone on a footpath near Rutgers Preserve at Rutgers University, campus police announced.

The man was bitten in the area of the Rutgers Preserve on the Livingston campus at Rutgers New Brunswick. The man said at about 4 a.m. Thursday, he was walking on the footpath of Avenue E in the area of Hospital Road when the coyote ran out of the tree line and bit him.

The Rutgers Ecological Preserve and Natural Teaching Area is a 360- acre wooded preserve located between the Busch and Livingston campuses in Piscataway. The Livingston dorms sit only yards away from where the man was attacked.

As of Friday morning, the Rutgers Preserve is closed to all visitors, Rutgers Chief of Police Kenneth Cop told Patch.

He was treated for his injuries at a local area hospital and was released.

Rutgers Police Department say they increased patrols in the area and within the Preserve.

Rutgers police do not normally define if crime victims are Rutgers students; they will only say if someone is affiliated with Rutgers University, so the man could have been a Rutgers student, professor or employee.

Rutgers police said they will be increasing patrols around the area after this happened Thursday. They are also working with the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife to find the coyote.