Photographer Loren Elliott's coverage of the coyotes of San Francisco earned him a Picture of the Year International award.
Published on Show Me Mizzou Aug. 28, 2026 Photos by Loren Elliott
After an absence of more than 75 years, coyotes have reclaimed San Francisco’s hills, parks and neighborhoods. Loren Elliott, who studied photojournalism in the Missouri School of Journalism master’s program, documented their return for The New York Times in “The Coyotes of San Francisco,” winner of the Environmental Vision category at Pictures of the Year International. The 83rd annual competition, a program of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and the Missouri School of Journalism, recognizes the year’s best photojournalism. Elliott, based in Boise, Idaho, is a frequent Times contributor and a member of the Reuters team that shared the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.
A coyote photographed with a remotely-triggered camera walks in front of the downtown skyline in San Francisco. Native to the area, coyotes were once eradicated from the city limits but have returned in recent decades following an absence of more than 75 years.A coyote howls to communicate with nearby coyotes as a runner and a car pass nearby.Members of a coyote family spend social time together at a sports field in San Francisco. Coyotes are highly social animals that live in packs led by an alpha male and female.Coyotes and people peacefully coexist at a sports complex, as a practice takes place on one baseball diamond while coyotes hangout on another.A local resident takes her poodle mix Jami for a walk in a park that doubles as coyote habitat in San Francisco. She outfits Jami with a spiked vest to deter a potential coyote attack.Members of a coyote family, photographed with a remote camera, as the young pups gain confidence venturing further from their den on a golf course in San Francisco.A curious coyote inspects a remote camera while walking an urban park trail in San Francisco. Coyotes have been spotted in cities around the country including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. But in San Francisco, they have become ubiquitous — and contentious.
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