2-year-old in critical condition after coyote attack in Texas

Police shot at the animal before it ran into the woods

A coyote attacked a 2-year-old child in the 9200 block of Royalpine Drive, near White Rock Trail in Dallas, Texas (Screengrab/WFAA)

A two-year-old child was critcally injured by a coyote, prompting the Dallas police to urge residents in the White Rock Valley area to stay on the alert.

According to the police, they responded to a call around 8.30am on Tuesday from the 9200 block of Royalpine Drive, near White Rock Trail.

Upon reaching, they learned the toddler was sitting on the front porch when the coyote attacked and injured the child, who has not been identified.

The child was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Police immediately attempted to track the animal before an officer located it near a park and shot at it before it ran into the woods.

It is not known if the coyote was hit by the bullet.

At around 3pm, Dallas Animal Services said the coyote was located by the Dallas police department’s infrared drone and was isolated.

According to Dallas Animal Services, residents routinely hand fed and pet the coyote that was well known in the neighbourhood.

“This tragic incident shows why it is critical that residents treat all wildlife as wild animals – when wild animals become too comfortable around hums, there is an increase in problematic and dangerous interactions such as this one that put both residents and the animal itself at risk,” Dallas Animal Services said in a statement.

Police have released the picture of the coyote that attacked the toddler and asked the public to call 911 if they locate the animal.

Robert M Timm, a wildlife expert, said the lack of fear of humans can be disastrous for the coyote. Mr Timm, a wildlife biologist with the University of California’s Hopland Research and Extension Centre, said such incidents are political nightmares for cities.

He said the problem is difficult to manage “as many people oppose any lethal control of wildlife, which at times is the only solution when some individual coyotes become habituated to living in suburbia to the extent that they attack pets and humans”.

There be 142 recorded reports of coyote attacks on humans in the US and Canada between 1960 and 2006, according to a report co-authored by Mr Timm.