Travis County and the city of Austin will finance a $40,000 contract with the Texas Wildlife Services Program to cull the coyotes, the Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday.
The culling will be focused on the most aggressive animals that have lost their innate fear of humans, said Jeff Ripley, director of the Texas Cooperative Extension in Travis County.
The animals will be trapped and then euthanized.
Meanwhile, in Harris County, coyotes have been spotted in Memorial Park and in River Oaks, the wealthiest enclave in Houston.
The Harris County Commissioners Court asked county departments to join forces with the Houston animal control and parks departments in trapping and relocating coyotes, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.
Texas regulations do not permit the relocation of coyotes, said Ripley.
"We [were] not aware of that, but now that we are, there is a different picture here," Gloria Roemer, spokeswoman for Harris County Judge Robert Eckels, said Wednesday.
Eckels had said that the influx of coyotes poses a danger, and it is only a matter of time before one goes after a child.
The city plans to monitor coyote activity in Memorial Park before addressing concerns that the animals may be posing a threat, said Patrick Trahan, the mayor's spokesman. The city needs more data on where the coyotes are seen, whether they are leaving tracks and how many are living along Buffalo Bayou in or near Memorial Park.
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