Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Coyote survives 35km 'embedded' in car grille after being run over

'Clearly mother nature has other plans for this special little guy'

Thursday 14 September 2017 08:43 BST

'Miraculously, he was freed and had minimal injuries,' Georgie Knox wrote on Facebook (Georgie Knox/Facebook)

A coyote survived a 35km (21 mile) journey embedded in the front grille of a car after being run over.

Georgie Knox, from Airdrie, Alberta, was on her way to work when the coyote ran in front of her car and she "heard a crunch and believed I ran over and killed it."

In a Facebook post, Ms Knox said a construction worker told her the animal was alive and still lodged in her car.

"When I got out to look, this poor little guy was looking up and blinking at me," she wrote.

'When I got out to look, this poor little guy was looking up and blinking at me' (Georgie Knox/Facebook)

Ms Knox said she had driven from Airdrie to Calgary, around 35km (21 miles) "at highway speeds."

She then notified wildlife officials, who were able to rescue the coyote.

"Miraculously, he was freed and had minimal injuries," she added.

Where not to visit if you love animals

Show all 9

1/9Where not to visit if you love animals

Where not to visit if you love animals

Monkey shows

Chimpanzees are forced to perform demeaning tricks on leashes and are often subject to cruel training techniques. Animals who are confined to small, barren enclosures and forced to perform unsurprisingly show symptoms of stress and depression. Chimpanzees have been documented rocking back and forth, sucking their lips, salivating and swaying against enclosure perimeters in distress.

Getty

Where not to visit if you love animals

Marine parks

Some parks confine orcas to concrete tanks and force them to perform meaningless tricks for food - many die in captivity. Orcas are highly intelligent and social mammals who may suffer immensely, both physically and mentally, when they're held in captivity.

Getty

Where not to visit if you love animals

Tiger shows

Tigers are forced to live in an unnatural and barren environment and have to endure interactions with a constant stream of tourists. Since tigers never lose their wild instincts, across the world they are reportedly drugged, mutilated and restrained in order to make them “safe” for the public. However, every year, incidents of tiger maulings are reported at this type of tourist attraction.

Getty

Where not to visit if you love animals

Donkey rides

Sunning on the beach is great for humans – we can take a quick dip or catch a bite to eat when we get too hot or hungry. But it's pure hell for donkeys who are confined to the beach and forced to cart children around on the hot sand. Some donkey-ride operators at beach resorts in the UK even keep the animals chained together at all times.

Getty

Where not to visit if you love animals

Swimming with dolphins

Some marine parks use bottlenose dolphins in performances and offer visitors the opportunity to swim with dolphins. Unfortunately, people are often unaware that these animals are captured in the wild and torn from their families or traded between different parks around the world.

Getty

Where not to visit if you love animals

Canned hunting

Lions are confined to fenced areas so that they can easily be cornered, with no chance of escape. Most of them will have been bred in captivity and then taken from their mothers to be hand-reared by the cub-petting industry. When they get too big, they may be drugged before they are released into a "hunting" enclosure. Because these animals are usually kept in fenced enclosures (ranging in size from just a few square yards to thousands of acres), they never stand a chance of surviving.

Getty

Where not to visit if you love animals

Running of the Bulls

Every year, tourists travel to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. The bulls who are forced to slip and slide down the town's narrow cobblestone streets are chased straight into the bullring. They are then taunted, stabbed repeatedly and finally killed by the matador in front of a jeering crowd. The majority of Spaniards reject bullfighting, but tourists are keeping the cruel industry on its last legs.

Getty

Where not to visit if you love animals

Horse-drawn carriages

City streets are no place for horses. The animals toil in all weather extremes, suffering from respiratory distress from breathing in exhaust fumes as well as numerous hoof, leg and back problems from walking on pavement all day long. As easily spooked prey animals, horses subjected to the loud noises and unexpected sounds of city streets are likely to be involved in accidents, even deadly ones.

Getty

Where not to visit if you love animals

Zoos

The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed and traded without any regard for established relationships. Zoos breed animals because the presence of babies draws visitors and boosts revenue, yet often, there's nowhere to put the offspring as they grow, and they are killed, as we saw with Marius the giraffe in Denmark. Some zoos have introduced evening events with loud music and alcohol which disrupt the incarcerated animals even further.

EPA

The coyote was checked over by a biologist from the state's wildlife agency and then released in Kananaskis County, in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies.

"Clearly mother nature has other plans for this special little guy!" Ms Knox said.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies