DNA tests match euthanized coyote to bitten toddler in Atwater Village – NBC Los Angeles

DNA tests match euthanized coyote to bitten toddler in Atwater Village  NBC Los Angeles

The child was treated at a hospital and released, according to the CDFW. Tests show a coyote who was euthanized after a toddler was nipped in Atwater Village was indeed the same canine who attacked the child, state wildlife officials confirmed Tuesday. Residents in the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood planned to meet Tuesday to discuss coyote mitigation efforts in the wake of the attack and killing of the coyote by wildlife officials. California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers responded to the 3300 block of Glenhurst Avenue on Friday after getting a report that a 16-month-old child was injured in an unspecified coyote-related incident. During the evening hours Friday, a coyote was tracked and killed in the same area, but it was not immediately confirmed if the animal was the same one who bit the child.

Now officials say it was indeed the same coyote. "DNA samples that were collected from the victim and the coyote that was taken have been analyzed and have confirmed the coyote that was taken is the offending animal,'' according to a CDFW statement issued Tuesday that cited an update from the department's Law Enforcement Division. Neighbors in the area said a coyote nicknamed Wylie had been seen in the area in recent months, with some speculating that people were leaving food and water for