Coyote attack caught on camera near Los Angeles raises concern in Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A frightening coyote attack caught on video in Southern California is drawing fresh attention in the Bay Area, where officials are also warning the public to stay cautious during coyote pupping season.

The video, recorded in Los Angeles County this week, shows a 4-year-old boy being attacked and pulled to the ground by a coyote while standing in his grandmother’s driveway. The child was not seriously hurt. Wildlife officials confirm the same animal was also linked to another child attack in February.

A 4-year-old boy was attacked by a coyote while standing in his grandmother’s driveway – and it was all caught on video.

In San Francisco, the incident struck a nerve with residents who called the video “terrible” and “awful.”

While the attack happened in Southern California, Bay Area communities are no strangers to coyote sightings and seasonal warnings.

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In the Presidio, officials recently closed parts of the Park Trail and Bay Area Ridge Trail because of coyote activity during pupping season. Other parks across the Bay Area have also posted warning signs advising visitors to stay alert.

Camilla Fox, founder and executive director of Bay Area-based nonprofit Project Coyote, the group behind some of those warning signs, said attacks on humans are extremely rare. She said coyotes generally want little to do with dogs, and that the risk to people remains low.

“Your chances of being injured by a cow or a deer or a flying champagne cork are greater than injured or fatally wounded by a coyote,” Fox said.

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Still, Fox said pupping season can make coyotes more territorial, especially if they feel their young are at risk.

Some Bay Area parkgoers said the warnings have changed how they move through areas where coyotes are known to live.

“When I do run here, I’ll turn my music off and put my headphones away, so I can hear if anything’s coming,” parkgoer Payton Pike told ABC7 Eyewitness News.

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Another parkgoer said it’s hard to tell apart a dog from a coyote sometimes.

“It’s like, ‘is that a dog? Doesn’t seem like one,’ so then we just cross the street, and then we try to go a few streets away,” parkgoer Kristen Gray said.

Fox said the Bay Area has become an example of how people and coyotes can coexist.

“The entire Bay Area is setting the model for what coexistence with coyotes looks like,” she said.

Officials and wildlife experts recommend giving coyotes space, keeping dogs leashed, staying alert on trails and avoiding areas that may be closed during pupping season.