An actor who is currently filming in Vancouver took to social media Sunday, saying his wife and dogs were attacked by a coyote in Stanley Park.
Alan Tudyk, who is in town filming the series Resident Alien, took to Twitter to say an aggressive coyote grabbed one of his dogs, Raisin, and snapped at his wife when they were walking in the park on Saturday.
He said the coyote would not give up for about 10 minutes and, luckily, the fact that Raisin was on a leash saved her.
Two passing cyclists stopped to help and eventually, the coyote took off.
Tudyk also tweeted that his wife went into “mama bear / spider monkey” mode to protect her dogs.
This attack is the latest in a string of attacks by coyotes in the park.
Azi Ramezani was jogging on Stanley Park Drive near Prospect Point in late January, when one of the animals came out of the underbrush and bit her in the back of the leg.
Ramezani suffered a fall from the attack, and later learned she had detached her hamstring muscles and suffered nerve damage.
Conservation officers have been repeatedly called to the park — there have been over a dozen coyote attacks or aggressive displays leading back to December.
Two of the animals had already been euthanized prior to the attack.
Officials believe the aggressive behaviour is a result of people intentionally feeding the animals. Once they become habituated to human contact, they grow bolder and expect food from humans, according to conservation officers.
-with files from Simon Little