DNA tests confirm coyote captured in Chicago attacked boy in Lincoln Park
Chicago Animal Care and Control via AP
This Friday, Jan. 10, 2020 photo provided by Chicago Animal Care and Control in Chicago shows an injured coyote after it was successfuly located and safely darted with a tranquilizer. A Chicago animal control official says DNA tests to determine if the coyote captured on the city’s North Side is the animal that attacked a 6-year-old boy will take weeks to complete. Jenny Schlueter of the Chicago Animal Care and Control says the coyote that was captured Thursday night will be held at an animal rehabilitation center until the tests are completed.
Animal control officials in Chicago said Sunday that DNA tests confirm a coyote recently captured in the city is the same animal that attacked a 6-year-old boy in Lincoln Park.
An evaluation determined that the animal was shot with a BB gun, “which could have caused the limp in its movements as well as the aggressive behavior,” according to the Chicago Animal Care and Control’s statement. Officials said they worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to evaluate the animal.
The animal was expected to remain at a local wildlife rehabilitation center.
It was captured this month after being chased by Chicago police and animal control officers for several blocks. The boy was bitten several times and hospitalized.
Animal control officials said another coyote was spotted in the same part of the city around the same time but it eluded capture. A second person, a man, has reported he was bitten by a coyote.
Still, experts say coyote attacks on humans have been extremely rare in the decades they have lived in the city and typically the animals are so afraid of people that their first instinct is to run away.
