Horror as dangerous wild animal found roaming around popular tourist spot after being mistaken for a dog off its leash

A BIRDWATCHER has come across an unexpected wild animal while hoping to spot a very different creature.

The man was visiting New York City's Central Park in hopes of snapping a photo of Flacco, the celebrity owl that escaped from Central Park Zoo in February.

David Lei entered Central Park with a thermal monocular to scope out animals at around 9pm on Monday night.  

Lei’s monocular picked up a four-legged animal that turned out to be a coyote.

He said: “Eastern coyote on patrol in Central Park last night.

"Was scanning for an owl with thermal monoculars when I saw something big and four-legged."

Lei took to Twitter to announce the surprise and what other animal he initially thought the coyote was.

He added: “Thought it might be an off-leash dog and gasped when a coyote came into focus on my camera.”

Lei has seen coyotes in Central Park around two years ago, according to Patch.

He said: “The coyote is a lucky occurrence and I wouldn’t want droves of people roaming around there in the hope of seeing it and perhaps disturbing other critters in that area.”

It has long been thought that at least one coyote has lived in Central Park, due to reports from park employees and late-night dog walkers.

Coyote sightings are common enough to warrant an entire page dedicated to them by the New York City Parks Department.

The city’s parks page lists what people should do if they encounter a coyote.

The wild animal is common across New York State and especially in the Bronx.

The park's website provides advice to people from how to spot a coyote to tips on how to coexist with the creature.

“Most coyotes are not dangerous to people," it states.

“If you spot an aggressive or fearless coyote, report it immediately to on-site golf course or Parks personnel.”

The page has also advised people not to feed the coyotes, to supervise their pets, and to stay at least 150 feet away.