Two young children had the scare of their lives after they ran into an aggressive coyote outside a Surrey, B.C. schoolyard on Monday evening.
A resident told Global News that she saw a coyote knock down the girl, who was walking with her six-year-old brother at Mary Jane Shannon Elementary School near 144 Street and 108 Avenue.
Conservation Officer Insp. Murray Smith clarified that the coyote did not attack the girl but did approach the child, who fell over.
Surrey firefighters attended the scene and said the little girl was not bitten, her injury was minor, and she did not have to go to hospital.
The Conservation Officer Service has decided that they will put the down the coyote as relocation isn’t an option.
“it has no fear of people and, you know, we believe that because it’s come right up to the child that it’s been possibly hand-fed, but we think it at least received some human food,” Smith said.
— With files from Jon Azpiri and Michelle Morton