Coyotes are roaming San Francisco's empty streets as the city's shelter-in-place order keeps people in their homes

Coyote in Glen Canyon Park, San Francisco, March 2020 https://t.co/3X5S9qHsRR pic.twitter.com/NNf4yZeEhr

La espectacular imagen de un coyote sobre el puente Golden Gate, en San Francisco. La llegada de animales salvajes a las ciudades desiertas es un hecho #COVID2019 #QuedateEnTuCasa #COVID19 #LugaresyMás pic.twitter.com/7rTpKbt7W2

Unexpected things happening, maybe as a result of shelter in place. My brother just spotted three coyotes in front of my parents’ house in San Francisco.

I went for a walk for fresh air and a group of women called out to me. And omg, they had spotted a pack of sleeping coyotes in the middle of (usually busy) San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/NNdG3dcs2Q

As KQED reported in February, the canines are native to California and were seen in the San Francisco Bay Area until the mid-1900s. However, people started using a poison called Compound 1080 to keep them off their land in the 1940s. After that, coyotes were reviled and hunters very nearly wiped out the animals.

They weren't seen for decades until 2002 when one was spotted in the city's Presidio. One theory is that the coyotes had walked over the Golden Gate Bridge into the city. Another is that a trapper brought some in from up north.

Either way, they've slowly begun to repopulate the city's parks, like Golden Gate Park and the Presidio.

Now they're a sort of mascot of the city and are clearly taking advantage of the desolate city as humans stay inside amid a viral outbreak.

The shelter-in-place order is expected to end on April 7, though that could be extended. Residents are being directed to remain inside their homes as much as possible, except to leave for essential needs like groceries and medicine. Nonessential businesses like bars and dine-in restaurants are closed.