Coyote attacks are events where coyotes attack humans. While these attacks are uncommon and rarely cause serious injuries, they have been increasing in frequency, especially in California. Although media reports generally identify the animals as simply "coyotes", some attackers in northeast North America may be hybrids known as coywolves.
A summary of the reported incidents below, as of September 16,2023 [update] :
Fatal | People | Area | Time Period | Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | All | North America | All years | 2 |
No | Minors | California | 1978–2003 | 35 |
No | Adults | California | 1979–2003 | 45 |
No | Minors | California | 2010–present | 15 |
No | Children | States outside California | 1997–present | 32 |
No | Teenagers | States outside California | 2010–present | 5 |
No | Children | Canada | 2009–present | 10 |
No | Teenagers | Canada | 2003–present | 5 |
No | Adults | California | 2016–present | 6 |
No | Adults | States outside California | 2008–present | 79 |
No | Adults | Canada | 2010–present | 19 |
No | Adults | Mexico | 2018–present | 1 |
Coyote attacks on humans are uncommon events and rarely cause serious injuries, but have been increasing in frequency, especially in California. In the 30 years leading up to March 2006, at least 160 attacks occurred in the United States, mostly in the Los Angeles County area. [1] Data from the United States Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other sources show that while 41 attacks occurred during the 10-year period of 1988–1997, 48 attacks were verified during the 6-year period of 1998 through 2003. The majority of these incidents occurred in Southern California near the wildland-suburban interface. [2]
Coyotes are losing their fear of humans, which is further worsened by people intentionally or unintentionally feeding coyotes. [2] In such situations, some coyotes have begun to act aggressively toward humans—chasing joggers and bicyclists, confronting people walking their dogs, and stalking small children. [2]
Although media reports of such attacks generally identify the animals in question as simply "coyotes", research into the genetics of the eastern coyote indicates those involved in attacks in northeast North America, including Pennsylvania, New York, New England, and Eastern Canada, may have actually been coywolves, hybrids of Canis latrans and wolves. [3]
Two fatal coyote attacks on humans have been confirmed by experts:
Coyotes are a greater threat to children than to adults. While their bushy hair can make them look quite large, coyotes rarely weigh more than 20 kilograms (44 lb). Also, they are less likely than other canids, such as wolves and dogs, to hunt in packs large enough to take down an adult human.
A study published in 2004 documented 35 incidents in which a minor escaped likely "serious or fatal injury" if the minor had not been rescued. [8] These included:
Much of the published scholarly research on coyote attacks on adults comes from California, but press reports detail attacks all across the continent.[ by whom? ][ citation needed ]
Not all the coyote attacks on adults in California between 1979 and 2003 reported by Timm, et al. resulted in injury. In some, bitten articles of clothing or backpacks show that injury was narrowly avoided. In others, the attack was immediately broken off by the coyote once it could make off with an item the uninjured victim was carrying. While several victims were hiking, working, or jogging in unpopulated areas, many occurred at the victim's own home. Many appear to have been "test bites" on people who seemed incapacitated, but as soon as the victim reacted, the attack was abandoned. A selection of these attacks are listed below. Some add context to one or more of the attacks on children listed above. Many began as attacks on a person's pet, provoking sequential counter-attacks. [8]
Year | Time of year | Location | Victim | Activity | Surroundings | Result | Time of day |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | June | Pasadena | M | Picking up newspaper | Yard | Heel bitten | Early morning |
1979 | July | Pasadena | M | Jogging | ? | Both legs bitten, chased up tree | ? |
1988 | October | San Diego | F | Talking on phone | Yard | Bitten | ? |
1990 | June | Reds Meadow | ? | Sleeping | Campground | Hand bitten | Night |
1990 | June | Reds Meadow | ? | Sleeping | Campground | Foot bitten | Night |
1992 | March | San Marcos | F | Defending dog | Yard | Face bitten | ? |
1992 | April | Fallbrook | M | Working | Grove | Bitten | ? |
1994 | March | Griffith Park | M | ? | ? | Bitten | Noon |
1994 | October | Griffith Park | M | ? | ? | Bitten | 5 pm |
1995 | March | Griffith Park | F | Preparing food | Yard | Bitten | Day |
1995 | June | Laguna Niguel | M | Stargazing | Yard | Foot bitten | Night |
1995 | June | Laguna Niguel | M | Picking up newspaper | Yard | Foot bitten | Mid-morning |
1995 | July | Griffith Park | M | Sleeping | Lawn | Foot bitten | 2:45 pm |
1995 | July | Griffith Park | M | Sleeping | Lawn | Foot bitten | 4 pm |
1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | Two F | ? | ? | Ankle bitten twice, pulled to ground | ? |
1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | F | ? | ? | Lunch pail stolen | ? |
1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | F | ? | ? | Purse stolen | ? |
1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | M | ? | ? | Shoe bitten | Before dawn |
1997 | January | San Juan Capistrano | M | ? | ? | Backpack successfully defended | ? |
1997 | February | South Lake Tahoe area | M | Feeding the coyote | ? | Hand that fed it bitten | ? |
1997 | September | Pomona | M | ? | ? | Bitten on ankle | ? |
1998 | November | San Mateo County | F | Hiking in a group | ? | Buttock bitten | ? |
1998 | November | San Mateo County | F | Hiking in a group | ? | Pant leg bitten | ? |
1999 | Spring | South Lake Tahoe area | Two | ? | ? | Bitten | ? |
1999 | Spring | South Lake Tahoe area | F | ? | Motel parking lot | Bitten | ? |
1999 | May | Canyon Country | M | Defending dog | ? | Scratched | Night |
1999 | August | Green Valley Lake | F | Defending dog | Yard | "Attacked", captive in car | 8:30 am |
1999 | October | Ventura County | M | Bicycling w/dog, six coyotes | ? | "Attacked" | ? |
2000 | February | Calimesa | M | Defending dog | Yard | Cuts, scrapes, and bruises | 9 pm |
2001 | April | Pomona | 54-year-old F | Defending dog | Yard | Leg bitten | 4:30 pm |
2001 | July | Tustin | F | ? | ? | Bitten | ? |
2001 | August | Hollywood Hills | M | Defending dog | ? | Bitten 8 times | 11:50 pm |
2001 | August | Irvine | F | Defending dog | ? | Bitten | 4:30 pm |
2001 | September | Agoura | F | Defending dog | ? | "Attacked" | 7:15 am |
2001 | September | Lancaster | M | Walking | ? | Fought off 4 coyotes with walking stick | Morning |
2001 | November | La Habra Heights | F | Walking | Golf course | Arm bitten | Daytime |
2002 | May | Los Angeles | M | Walking dog | ? | "Attacked" | Evening |
2002 | July | Woodland Hills, Los Angeles | F | ? | ? | Arm bitten | 6 am |
2002 | July | Woodland Hills, Los Angeles | M | Walking | Between car and garage | Boot bitten | ? |
2002 | July | Carlsbad | F | Walking dog, 8-10 coyotes | ? | Bitten | 10 pm |
2002 | November | Woodland Hills, Los Angeles | F | Defending dog | ? | Fractured elbow, scratched | 1 pm |
2002 | December | East Highland | M | Working | Utility work area | Pants bitten | Evening |
2002 | December | East Highland | M | ? | ? | "Attacked" | Evening |
2003 | February | Lake View Terrace | "Jogger" | Jogging | Near "neighborhood coyote feeding station" | Ankle bitten | ? |
2003 | November | Claremont | M | ? | ? | Successfully defended self w/ walking stick | 8 am |
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)According to the suit, it happened because of insufficient gating and the lack of other preventive measures by cemetery officials. The park also allegedly failed to warn visitors of the risk of being in a cemetery where the wild animals freely roamed, the suit states. Teroganesian suffered "various severe and permanent injuries" because of the incident, according to the complaint.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife were investigating an alleged coyote attack involving a 4-year-old girl in Hollywood. The incident reportedly occurred Sunday morning in the Hollywood Dell area.
A state Department of Public Health tested its brain tissues and determined it did not have rabies...
A 3-year-old girl playing with her sister and mother was attacked from behind by an urban coyote Friday at a park in Irvine. The girl was bitten in the neck shortly before 6 p.m. at Silverado Park at Silverado and Equinox. Ginna McKenna heard screams and ran over to help. "I ran across the park," McKenna said. "They said that the coyote charged the little girl. They were two twins and they were playing and supposedly it went after one girl." The girl was taken to a hospital and was released hours later with minor cut in the neck. California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials responded, but the coyote took off and remained at large. They recommend removing pet food and water from reach. "When you remove the attractants, they have to move on back to their natural habitat to survive," Lt. Kent Smirl said. "So it's a matter of education. It takes persistence, consistency and patience."
The boys said the coyote started circling Tony. Tony tried to fend it off, but the coyote eventually bit him from behind. "Vincent saw a coyote up there, but I didn't (at first)," said Tony. "I wasn't screaming really loud, but I was screaming, Tony! Tony!," said Vincent. Tony kept his snowboard between himself and the coyote. "But then (the coyote) stopped and went the other way and bit him," said Vincent. "I pushed him away and then he started circling again," said Tony. Tony then got his own lick in with his snowboard. I whacked him."
"She was walking along and from behind a coyote came up and knocked the baby down and took a bite from the back of her head, a pretty good sized bite, " said Robin Gallagher, the aunt of the two-year-old girl who now has stitches in her head.
Police believe a coyote that attacked a toddler on Wednesday has most likely died after being shot by an officer later that night. Lt. Richard Fuller said there have been no sightings of the animal since police were called to a Main Street home at about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday, where an officer fired two shots at the coyote, which then ran into the woods. Police continued searching the woods in South Weymouth on Thursday. They didn't find the coyote, but did find blood they believe came from the animal, Fuller said. "They haven't found it yet and their belief is that it's probably expired," he said. "We're hopeful it's deceased deep in the woods." Local police and state Environmental Police began searching for the coyote after it approached a 2-year-old girl on Clarendon Street at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, bit her on the head and then ran into the woods. She was treated at South Shore Hospital and began receiving shots to prevent rabies. The search was called off after several hours, but police were called back in the evening when the coyote reappeared.
Her husband, Jarred Coursey, who had been showering, hurried outside and found the coyote still standing there. With his wife and Colton safe inside and his 1-year-old son still strapped inside the car -- and oblivious to what was happening -- Jarred ran back inside, grabbed a shotgun and fatally shot the animal. "It never left the yard," Jarred said. "It never acted afraid. Normally coyotes would run off. It was standing its ground. It was almost as if it was wanting something from us, like it expected us to give it something. We don't know if it was sick or what."
"Of course, a second child was mauled by a coyote a short time later, triggering a full-scale hunt that resulted in two adult coyotes being killed by CPW officers at the park along Monument Creek north of Fillmore Street. On Wednesday, I called the agency to learn lab results of the coyotes' remains and to give wildlife officials a chance to respond to complaints they've been slow to act....."There's no way you can remove all coyotes from an area," Churchill said. "If you have the habitat, you are going to have coyotes." And the state isn't interested in spending thousands of dollars to trap and remove "good" coyotes from cities, she said.
New Hampshire officials say a teenager walking his dog in Hopkinton was attacked by a coyote and is receiving a course of rabies shots as a precaution. Fish and Game officials say the teen, whose name was not released, was walking the family dog in a wooded area near his home when the coyote approached. His dog ran and the coyote attacked the teenager....Officials say the teen punched the coyote repeatedly in the nose until it ran off. The teenager was scratched and possibly bitten by the coyote."
A young Vernon girl is recovering after being attacked by a coyote Monday afternoon. The girl suffered minor puncture wounds when the animal attacked as the family walked their small dog in a greenbelt area near Alexis Park Drive and 35th Avenue at 5pm. Conservation Officer Josh Lockwood says coyote attacks in BC are rare, with only four attacks on humans in the last 15 years. "In this incident, the people walking had a small dog which probably attracted the coyote's attention to them," says Lockwood. The animal was not found following a search by a special response team.
Kevin Gaudet, stepdad to Dakota, 8, says the two were together on the sidewalk last Sept. 25, when the animal lunged at the girl and bit her ribcage area. "I turned around, it had a hold of her foot, the animal was about knee-high," he said, adding it then bit Dakota further up her torso. "If I'd grabbed a hold of it, I was going to break its neck....Dakota was taken to St. Catharines hospital, where it was assessed as a coyote bite, they say....as it could not isolate the animal for a 10-day observation period, locate the animal or confirm its health status, it recommended the anti-rabies vaccine as a "precautionary measure."
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The man is okay but his 10-year-old Yorkie, named Dodger, was dragged away by the coyotes and presumably killed.
The attack occurred in the 4800 block of East Alder Drive in Kensington.
The two were fully camouflaged and set up for turkey hunting. Cardilli was using a slate call to call in gobblers for his friend when he was hit hard from the backside and toward his left by a full grown adult coyote. Cardilli thinks the coyote had been stalking his slate calls and picked up on his movements while calling.
He bit me four times real quick on the arm and hand," said Blanton Robertson, 24, who was asleep on a friend's patio near 11th Street when he was bitten in late May. "I hopped up to my feet, and we ran the coyote off. But he stood there in the street and kind of looked at us for a while.
The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Department says a 48-year-old man was attacked by a coyote. Martin Frohnapfel was walking his dog near a trailer court in Dalton, MN, when a coyote tried to attack the dog. Frohnapfel stepped between them, to fight off the coyote, and was bitten on both hands.
A student at Brandeis University is recovering from what the school is calling a possible coyote attack.
Brandeis University is telling students to be on the lookout for wild animals. The Waltham, Mass. school sent out an advisory saying a female student was possibly bitten by a coyote Wednesday morning. It has not been confirmed that the animal was, in fact, a coyote.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)A woman thought she heard a dog trying to get into her chicken coop in her backyard. When she went to investigate, she hit the animal with a broom and it turned and started to attack her. Her adult daughter, who lived in a separate house on the same property, heard the commotion and got a gun and shot the coyote. Brevard fire officials said the 84-year-old woman was taken to Palm Bay Hospital in stable condition. BCSO, Fire Rescue, as well as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission were called to the scene. The coyote was sent to the state lab to test for rabies.
It is unknown if the coyote is rabid or was displaying any signs of the illness. In such cases where a contact occurs and a wild animal is not captured, bite victims are usually treated for rabies as a precaution, according to the health board. The woman is undergoing the treatment. Read more: Wrentham woman bit by coyote, animal control investigating - Bellingham, MA - Country Gazette
So I took my flashlight and hit it over the side of the head to get it to let go. As soon as I got it to let go then another one went to lunge at me. All I really thought to do was swing and knock it to get it from jumping at me again," Dickehage said. "Picture closing your eyes and having the three figures, you can barely see them, and all you could do is keep your hands up and just make sure that they weren't going for the face. "You feel the initial impact, and as soon as you felt it, then you could react and go to shove, but, I mean, after that … all I could try doing was make sure I was moving backwards.
Officers with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said they captured the three coyotes within two days of the attack. "All three animals tested negative for rabies," officials said.
A man was attacked Friday morning by a coyote near a country club in Mansfield, said Mansfield Police and an ODNR spokesperson. Police said the victim called 9-1-1 to report seeing a pack of four coyotes around 11 a.m. in the 900 block of Springmill Road near the Westbrook Country Club. Mansfield police responded to the scene to find the man had been bitten, said the ODNR spokesperson. The ODNR game warden was called in to investigate. The spokesperson said the man was transported to the hospital with injuries that appear to be coyote bite marks. ODNR did not find any coyotes in the area, but said the victim's supervisor and a law enforcement officer reported seeing the coyotes. The victim worked for a golf club in the area.
Earlier today, a pack of coyotes reportedly attacked 21-year-old Matthew Storer.
MANSFIELD — A man who was riding a lawnmower at the former Lumbermens Office Village was taken to the emergency room Friday after he told authorities he was attacked by a pack of coyotes. Matthew Storer said he was on the riding mower, wearing headphones and blowing leaves off the lot when the coyote attacked. "Next thing I know I've got a coyote latched to my left arm," Storer said upon his return to the scene from MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital. Storer said he only suffered scratches and a wound, and did not require stitches, only rabies shots. His arm was injured in the incident which took place just before noon near Westbrook Country Club on Ohio 39, in Mansfield's northwest side. Mansfield police Sgt. Angie Eichinger said she saw three coyotes when she arrived, but they disappeared into the woods. Police contacted the Richland County game warden, Greg Wasilewski. Wasilewski said he doesn't know why they attacked the man.
52-year old Mary Lou Gardner told police that she was attacked by the 40 to 50 pound coyote just before 7 a.m. and suffered a puncture wound on her leg. The animal then went after her dog, Jasmine.
The woman took off her jacket during the attack and used it to try to shield herself against the coyote.
"Basically it was protecting its den and came running out of the den after the dog, I imagine," said Rippy.
It happened Thursday evening in a wooded area southwest of Foothills Parkway and Arapahoe Avenue, about one mile east of the school's main campus.
Michael Gagnon said he let his 5-year-old boxer out when he got home from work, and minutes later heard her yelping. "And I ran down there and there are three coyotes attacking her," he said. Gagnon said he had to fight off the coyotes and suffered a long cut on his arm as a result. "When I tried to push him down, he just came up on me," he said. Lulu has at least four bite wounds that her owners estimate are about an inch deep, and she's having a difficult time walking.
Beaufort County, SC (WLTX) -- A person in Okatie in Beaufort County is getting treatment for rabies exposure after being bitten by a coyote that tested positive for the disease. The SC Department of Health and Environmental Control says the person was bitten on September 25 and that tests the following day confirmed the coyote had rabies.
A 35-year-old Clinton resident said he needed 14 stitches in his face after what appeared to be a coyote attacked him unprovoked Tuesday night, biting him in the face. Police said the animal, believed to be a wild coyote or large dog of some sort, went after the man while he was walking down Liberty Street....
the man was in a sleeping bag outside when the coyote attacked him at about 12:30 a.m. at the campground on Athabasca Street East
"The fact that they packed up and acted as aggressively as they did toward her is of concern, because normally they will just shy off by someone yelling or shooing them off," said conservation officer Jim Beck. Beck said he was alerted to the situation on Wednesday, when a friend of Sarah James, the woman who was attacked, called. James had been walking a friend's labradoodle on the Summerland Centennial Trail, when she was surrounded by three coyotes. The man told Beck the attack had occurred and that he was providing basic care to her. The injuries were defensive, which eliminated health concerns, said Beck. He had a follow up conversation with James Wednesday evening and another today, Friday, to see how she was doing and to inform her one coyote had been taken out in close proximity to where the attack took place. James, whose coat was torn up and left hand injured during the incident, has been recovering at home since it happened.
York Regional Police and the Ontario SPCA are hunting for two animals believed to be coyotes or feral German shepherds in Markham, just north of Toronto, after two women were injured in attacks Monday. hi-coyote-istock-3col Police are looking for two wild animals they suspect could be coyotes, similar to the one pictured here, after two residents north of Toronto were attacked. (istock) The animals chased several people in the Huntington Park neighbourhood and attacked two women on Monday afternoon.
York Regional Police are still searching for two "coyote-like" animals after they attacked two women and chased several residents into their homes in a Thornhill neighbourhood. "Right now the general belief is that they are coyotes or perhaps a hybrid," says Sergeant Clint Whitney.
Const. Laura Nicole with York Regional Police said they are confident the animals are wild. "These are wild, feral animals, whether they're dogs or coyotes, we don't believe these are domesticated animals whatsoever," she said.