For the second time in one week a child in the North Kildonan neighbourhood of Winnipeg was attacked by a coyote.
In a Sunday bulletin, Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development said a four-year-old child was attacked by a coyote in the Headmaster Row area in the evening on June 30.
The child was taken to hospital and treated for their injuries and later released.
The incident comes six days after a nine-year-old boy was mauled by a coyote just a few streets over in the Knowles Avenue and Popko Crescent area on June 24. The boy received stitches in his head and is recovering at home.
“They’re not afraid of people, not afraid of dogs,” said Logan Funk, 18, who came to the nine-year-old’s rescue during the early evening attack last week.
Funk said there’s been an increase in coyote sightings in the last few years.
In December 2022 the province said it receives, on average, 70 reports of coyote-human interactions in Winnipeg each year, though most are sightings and not conflicts.
Wildlife experts say coyote attacks on humans are extraordinarily rare.
“It’s not like it’s happening all the time,” Barrett Miller, manager of group services at FortWhyte Alive, previously told Global News.
The province said in its release conservation officers have hired a trapper from the Manitoba Trappers Association to help capture the animal.
Signs stating active trapping was underway could be seen in the area where the attack occurred on Sunday afternoon.
No one from the province was made available for an interview about the situation.
“While these attacks are rare, it important that people be vigilant,” Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development said in the release, adding ways to reduce the chance of a coyote attack includes feeding pets indoors and keeping them on a leash outdoors, as well as reducing attractants.
If a coyote is spotted, using the hazing method – becoming loud or raising a jacket or piece of clothing to appear bigger — can scare it off if it approaches.
Anyone with information on the recent coyote attacks is asked to call the Turn in Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-782-0076.
– with files from Katherine Dornian
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