Coyote that attacked 2-year-old in Woodland Hills euthanized, officials say

A coyote that attacked a 2-year-old in the front yard of her family’s Woodland Hills home earlier this month has been captured and killed, officials said Sunday.

Home security video captured the coyote attacking the toddler on the afternoon of Dec. 3 while her father was busy unloading the family’s SUV. The coyote knocked the child down and began to drag her away while she screamed. The girl’s father quickly picked up the child and chased the coyote away.

Since then, California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers have been attempting to capture the coyote. On Friday, officials captured the animal “in the immediate vicinity of the street where the attack occurred,” Patrick Foy, a public information captain in the department, said in a statement.

They were able to confirm it was the same coyote by using DNA samples, Foy said in an email. It was later euthanized.

The coyote had been a problem for weeks, Foy previously told the Times. In Los Angeles County, there have been at least seven recorded coyote attacks on people this year.