San Francisco authorities responded by shooting three coyotes at the Botanical Garden after one coyote bit a young girl, prompting DNA testing to identify the attacker and reopening the garden after safety measures were implemented. (X/Peter Thurifer)
- Three coyotes were fatally shot at San Francisco Botanical Garden after one attacked a 5-year-old girl during a summer camp visit.
- Wildlife officers retrieved DNA from the girl's wound to identify the attacking coyote and reopened the garden after safety assessments.
- The girl received medical treatment, including stitches and a rabies vaccine, despite low rabies risk from coyotes.
Share
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
SAN FRANCISCO — Wildlife officers shot and killed three coyotes at the San Francisco Botanical Garden over the weekend after a coyote attacked a 5-year-old girl, authorities said Monday.
Two coyotes were shot on Saturday and one was shot on Sunday, said Patrick Foy, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
A coyote bit the 5-year-old on Friday while the girl was playing during a supervised summer camp visit at the garden within Golden Gate Park. The girl was treated for the bite wound at a hospital, her mother, Helen Sparrow, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
“If a coyote or bear or mountain lion attacks a person, those animals are euthanized, and we conduct a rabies test on them post-mortem and take DNA samples,” Foy said Monday morning.
Related Story: A San Francisco Store is Shipping LGBTQ+ Books to Places Where They are Banned
Officers were able to retrieve a DNA sample from the girl’s wound. Scientists on Monday were attempting to use that sample to identify which coyote attacked her. If none of the samples match, agents may need to trap or kill other coyotes in the park, Foy said.
The garden reopened Monday after being closed following the attack.
Sparrow told the Chronicle that her daughter had begun to run but tripped and the coyote “bit her on the bum when she was down.”
Doctors stitched up the bite wound and administered a rabies vaccine, though they told Sparrow that coyotes rarely test positive for rabies, the Chronicle reported.
RELATED TOPICS:
Categories
Trump’s Budget Plan Puts David Valadao on the Medi-Cal Hot Seat
Meta to Start Testing Crowd-Sourced Fact-Checking, Based on X Example, Next Week
Senate Dems Refuse to Go Along With GOP Spending Plan, as Shutdown Deadline Nears
49ers Agree to 2-Year Contract With QB Mac Jones, AP Source Says
Belgian Prosecutors Arrest Suspects in Huawei Bribery Probe Targeting EU Parliament
