COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers are looking for a coyote that attacked a 4-year-old girl in northern Colorado Springs on Thanksgiving.
CPW said the attack happened late Thursday afternoon in a neighborhood east of Monument Creek and Interstate 25, near the Air Force Academy.
Witnesses said the girl was attacked when she and another child approached a coyote that was crouching behind a tree, thinking it was a dog. The coyote lunged at the girl, grabbing the back of her head, inflicting serious injuries that resulted in an overnight stay at a hospital, CPW said.
“This could have been much worse – a tragedy – if not for the quick action of the child’s father to stop the attack, rescue his daughter and scare the coyote off,” Tim Kroening, CPW’s Area Wildlife Manager for the Pikes Peak region, said in a news release.
CPW was alerted to the attack on Friday, after the girl was released from the hospital, and the agency immediately began organizing its search.
CPW said because it would be impossible to identify the exact coyote, they will lethally remove any coyote found in the area of the attack. The carcasses will be sent to a lab to be examined for human DNA and tested for diseases, like rabies.
According to CPW, coyotes live across Colorado, adapting well to urban areas where they find shelter and easy meals. Like most wildlife, coyotes are naturally afraid of humans, but they can lose that fear and become bold and aggressive if they are protecting their young, being fed or are sick.
“We don’t know yet what brought the coyote into the yard with this child,” Kroening said in the release. “But it’s an important reminder to everyone to be alert and haze wild animals away from their homes and neighborhoods. That goes for deer, fox, bobcat, bears and other animals. Don’t let them get comfortable around people.
“If you see them, throw rocks at them, yell at them. And if you notice aggressive behavior, call us immediately. We'll try to remove any aggressive animals.”
CPW said coyotes live across Colorado and have a huge range, but if they find a spot in a city with food, cover, water and open space, they won't wander far, and they can be territorial.
