Coyote who attacked child in Woodland Hills is euthanized

A coyote that attacked a 2-year-old child in the front yard of the family’s Woodland Hills home earlier this month has been captured and killed, officials said Sunday.

Home security video captured the coyote attacking the toddler on the afternoon of December 3 while his father was busy unloading the family’s SUV. The coyote knocked the child down and began to drag her away as she screamed. The girl’s father quickly picked up the child and chased the coyote away.

Since then, agents from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have been trying to capture the coyote. On Friday, authorities captured the animal “in the immediate vicinity of the street where the attack occurred,” Patrick Foy, the department’s public information captain, said in a statement.

They were able to confirm it was the same coyote using DNA samples, Foy said in an email. He was then euthanized.

The coyote had been a problem for weeks, Foy previously told The Times. In Los Angeles County, there have been at least seven coyote attacks on people this year.