page_title: Kelly Keen coyote attack
section_title: Similar attacks
hierarchical_section_title: Kelly Keen coyote attack / Similar attacks
caption_attribution_description: English: A coyote approaches a child in a school yard, Pitt Meadows, British Columbia
context_page_description: The Kelly Keen coyote attack is the only known fatal coyote attack on a child, as well as the only known fatal coyote attack on a human ever confirmed in the United States. On August 26, 1981, three-year-old Los Angeles resident Kelly Lynn Keen was dragged off her property and fatally wounded by an urban coyote before being rescued by her father. The event is also notable for its aftermath, in which large numbers of coyotes were killed and two animal rights activists provoked an uproar by claiming that her parents, not the coyote, had killed her.
context_section_description: USDA and California State University researchers have confirmed at least thirty-five incidents in the state in which "the possibility of serious or fatal injury seems likely if the child had not been rescued" from coyotes, including the following sample of confirmed coyote attacks on children in California that were likely to have ended similarly if the child had not been saved in time:
  In August 1979, in La Verne, a coyote attacked a 5-year-old girl. Her father and a neighbor saved the child from being dragged off, but not before she had suffered deep bites on neck, head, and legs.
  In July 1980, in Agoura Hills, a coyote grabbed a 13-month-old girl by the midsection and started dragging her off. She suffered puncture wounds but was saved by her mother.
  In August 1988, in Oceanside, a coyote bit the rollerskate of an 8-year-old girl who had just fallen but was chased away by two women throwing rocks. Another coyote grabbed a 3-year-old girl by the leg, pulled her down, and bit her on her head and neck before her mother and neighbors chased it off.
  In May 1992, in San Clemente, a coyote attacked a 5-year-old girl, biting her several times on her back and legs. She climbed her swing set to escape, and her mother chased the coyote off.
  In March 1995, in Griffith Park, a 5-year-old girl was knocked down twice by a coyote and bitten, before being saved by her mother.
  In June 1996, in Los Altos, a coyote grabbed a 3-year-old boy's head and hand and began dragging him toward some bushes before he was saved by his 15-year-old brother.
  In June 2001, in Northridge, a coyote attacked and seriously injured a 7-year-old girl, but was finally fought off by her mother.
  In July 2001, in Irvine, a coyote bit a 3-year-old boy in the leg while he was playing in his yard. He was saved by his father.
  In December 2001, in San Gabriel, a coyote bit a 3-year-old girl in the head, grabbed her shoulder and started to drag her away, but was chased off by her father.
  In August 2003, in Apple Valley, a coyote attacked a 4-year-old boy on a golf course, biting him on the face and neck before he was saved by his father.
  Other reports of non-fatal coyote attacks on children in California: 
  On June 28, 2010, a coyote jumped on a twelve-year-old girl in Spring Valley. The girl fell backwards and injured her elbow, but she was not bitten.
  On July 18, 2013, at about 3:15 p.m., at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cypress, a two-year-old girl was attacked by a coyote while playing about ten feet away from her mother, who was visiting her grandmother's grave.  The coyote grabbed the playing child and started to drag her off into the bushes, but dropped the child and ran away when "lunged at" by the mother.  The child was hospitalized for a 2.5 inch gash to the leg and began precautionary treatment for rabies.  Authorities killed three coyotes at the cemetery later that day, and cemetery officials ordered warning signs be posted and traps be set around the cemetery but away from public areas.  On October 9, the mother filed suit alleging that the cemetery, by not warning her of the risk, had liability.
  On November 16, 2014, a woman claimed that her four-year-old daughter was knocked down by a coyote outside her Hollywood, home. After the attack, the Department of Fish and Wildlife investigated but couldn't find any coyote, and a local television news program described the attack as "alleged".
  On December 25, 2014, just after 6:00 p.m., a boy was bitten in an attack by an apparently sick coyote. He was saved by his father.  Before the attack, about a block away, the coyote had attacked and bitten the leg of a man walking his children to his car outside a home.  After the attack, the coyote chased and bit a jogger on a nearby street but ran away when kicked; the police shot and killed the coyote, which tested negative for rabies.
  On January 12, 2015, in Ladera Ranch, outside a baby girl's residence, an injured coyote tried to attack and grab the girl from her mother's arms .  The mother fought the animal off enough to get inside to safety. After the attack, the coyote ki
caption: An urban coyote approaches a child in a school yard in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia
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