HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — A toddler was seriously injured when she was attacked by a coyote near the Huntington Beach pier Thursday night.
According to police, the attack occurred along the beach north of the pier at around 9:45 p.m., KABC-TV reported.
Jennifer Carey, a Huntington Beach spokesperson, told the Ocean County Register that the girl was with her mother at the time of the attack and was hospitalized, but her injuries, while serious, are considered life-threatening.
Police confirmed to KABC that officers shot two coyotes on the beach after the child’s attack, one of which was found dead on the beach Friday morning but not believed to be the animal that assailed the girl.
Meanwhile, the department is working with the California Department of Fish and Game to track and euthanize the second coyote, which was wounded but not captured during the officers’ gunfire. That animal is believed to be the one that attacked the girl, Carey told the OC Register.
“We’re fairly certain we wounded it pretty good,” Lt. Thoby Archer told the newspaper.
A video from a Surfline.com camera captured footage of the attack, however, and the OC Register described the wildlife encounter as follows:
“…a woman is holding the toddler and taking selfies, with another person and child a few feet away just north of the Huntington Beach Pier.
The toddler slips a few small steps behind the woman when the coyote is seen stopping just in front of her for a split moment before leaping on top and tackling the toddler.
The woman is unaware of the attack, facing the other direction toward the ocean.
The attack happens for more than 10 seconds before the woman slowly gets up and walks toward the toddler, the coyote running away.
They walk a few steps before the woman stoops down to check on the toddler, just as bystanders walk over as the coyote circles back nearby.
She holds the toddler in her arms as they walk away with the other person and child and the bystanders, one who darts across the sand and out of the camera’s view.
The coyote comes back a third time, searching the area near the shoreline as another couple walks up to the sand, also seemingly unaware of its presence.”