Conservation officers killed coyote that attacked kids, DNA confirms

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This article was published 04/01/2024 (660 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A coyote killed by conservation officers in North Kildonan in July was the animal that attacked two children in the Winnipeg neighbourhood in June.

The Manitoba Conservation Officer Service said recently completed analysis confirmed the DNA profile taken from the shirt of one of the victims matches that of a coyote that officers killed on July 3.

Measurements Manitoba Agriculture veterinarians took during a necropsy of the animal showed the coyote’s teeth spacing was consistent with the bite marks on the first victim, the conservation service said on Thursday.

Last summer, Manitoba Conservation said officers captured and killed five coyotes in the weeks following the separate attacks.

The first attack was on a nine-year-old boy, who received 24 stitches to the back of his head after the mauling on June 24.

The boy was walking home with his 15-year-old sister near Popko Crescent and Knowles Avenue around 6:45 p.m., when a coyote approached and attacked.

A neighbour who heard the boy’s screams used a shovel to scare the predator away.

During the evening of June 30, a coyote attacked a four-year-old girl from behind near the retention pond at Headmaster Row. The girl was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries.

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The conservation service ramped up efforts to capture and cull the animals in the area in the weeks after the attacks, while warning the public to be wary.

Manitoba Conservation said the number of conflicts between coyotes and humans in the neighbourhood dropped substantially after the July cull, but the service expects the number of the animals in the area to eventually rebound.

The animal appeared to get accustomed to direct or indirect feeding by people, which the conservation service said it believes played a role in the coyote’s behaviour.

The conservation service reiterated that the public shouldn’t feed wildlife, indirectly or directly. Conservation said indirect means of feeding predators includes feeding prey such as birds and rabbits, which can attract coyotes and other predators to the area.

Coyotes that have been fed by people tend to become comfortable approaching humans — and could become aggressive as a result, the conservation service warned.