A coyote attacked the two-year-old daughter of Israeli citizens Shira and Ariel Eliyahu in broad daylight in front of their Los Angeles home on Friday. The incident was reported by both Israeli and American news outlets.
A Monday article from local news source KTLA explained that this is the seventh time a coyote has attacked a human in Los Angeles in 2022.
The incident was caught on camera by the Eliyahu family's home security system. Ariel and his daughter Ariya appeared to be in the process getting out of the car. The toddler was behind the car while her father was getting something in the passenger seat. According to The Guardian, they had just returned from picking Ariya up from preschool.
The coyote quickly approached Ariya and grabbed her, knocking her over and dragging her away. Ariel heard her screaming, ran to his daughter and scared off the wild canine while comforting the young girl.
The girl, reported Kan, was taken to the hospital where her injuries were treated and she was given multiple rabies shots.
“She has a lot of scratches on her left leg and one of them is really deep,” Shira Eliyahu told KTLA. “We had to go to the ER. We had to get her rabies shots. The coyote just kind of dragged her so her face is also a little bit bruised.”
“I heard Ariya scream. I thought she fell down,” Ariel Eliyahu told CNN on Sunday. “I ran immediately to see what was going on and I saw the coyote attack her. I picked her up in my arms and tried to make the coyote go away.”
Coyotes in California
The Eliyahu family lives in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, which is a suburban neighborhood not known particularly for its wildlife. However, although coyote attacks are generally rare, urban coyote sightings are not. The California Department of Fishing and Wildlife even put out an informational video last year about coyote safety.
“We don’t live in a zoo, we live in Los Angeles,” Ariel told CNN. “Now I’m really, really, really afraid to let the kids go out, even in the back yard, by themselves.”