A 5-year-old girl on an outing at San Francisco Botanical Garden was attacked and bitten by a coyote, resulting in three coyotes being euthanized over the weekend, officials said.

The girl was bitten Friday and treated at a hospital, Patrick Foy with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's law enforcement division confirmed. Officials collected a DNA sample from her wound to try and identify the coyote that bit her.

Two coyotes were killed in the area on Saturday and another was killed on Sunday, Foy confirmed. One of the coyotes killed matched the DNA test, he said. Results from a rabies test weren't yet available.

The child had been playing in the botanical garden while on a trip with a summer camp, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Her mother, Helen Sparrow, told the outlet she began to run away but tripped, and the coyote "bit her on the bum when she was down." Sparrow told the Chronicle her wound was stitched up at the hospital.

Coyote activity in California on the rise during summer months

Coyotes are native to California and while the state's wildlife department says attacks are rare, they have been known to seriously injure young children before. Coyotes are more active during the warmer months, especially March through August, because they are raising their young and searching for food.

Friday's attack was not the first time coyotes in Golden Gate Park got close to young children. In June 2021, SFGate reported that a coyote charged toward two toddlers who were playing near their mothers at the botanical garden. One of the mothers, Katlin Zimmer, told the outlet she dived between the coyote and her baby, causing the animal to hesitate and giving them time to retreat from it.

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Later that same afternoon, the outlet reported, another family had an encounter with a coyote that sauntered too close to young children. They weren't injured and the coyote left after people shooed it away, witnesses said. Other incidents involving coyotes coming close to children had been previously reported, according to SFGate.

Coyotes have repopulated the city in recent decades, and dens have sprung up in people's yards, according to San Francisco Recreation and Parks. Residents are encouraged to "haze" the coyotes and try to scare them off by making loud noises and waving their arms to appear larger.

Coyote sightings are also on the rise in Southern California, the city of Fountain Valley warned last month.

What to do if you encounter a coyote

Wildlife officials say it's important not to allow coyotes to become too familiar with humans, so you should never feed them or try to domesticate them. Always leash your pets and don't leave them unattended outside. Coyotes will try to eat garbage, so make sure you keep it in secured containers.

If you encounter a coyote, here are some safety tips from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

  • Keep a safe distance and back away slowly
  • Keep children and pets close to you
  • Make loud noises, blow a whistle or clap to scare it off
  • Make yourself look bigger by waving your arms around
  • If a coyote makes contact, fight back and immediately call animal control or 911

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