Authorities in San Francisco may have killed a coyote that bit a 5-year-old girl last week at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.
The incident happened late Friday morning when the girl was at a supervised summer camp in the Garden in Golden Gate Park. Officials said the girl was bitten from behind by the coyote. She suffered minor injuries and is expected to be OK.
The incident prompted city officials to temporarily close the garden this weekend. San Francisco Wildlife officials have since killed three coyotes in the area.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division Capt. Patrick Foy said officials were working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set traps and attempt to locate and remove the offending animal.
“If a coyote, bear or mountain lion attacks a human, those animals are euthanized and we do a post-mortem test for rabies and take DNA samples,” Foy said Monday morning.
Officials say they shot and killed three coyotes in the yard over the weekend, but they still need to analyze DNA samples from the animals to see if the DNA matches that of the coyote that bit the girl.
Officials confirmed that the San Francisco Botanical Garden reopened on Monday.
