CA: Predatory Coyote Attack on 2-Year-Old Girl in Woodland Hills

On Friday, December 2, 2022, a father, Ariel Eliyahuo, and his two year old daughter, returned to their Woodland Hills home in Los Angeles, California. An average or smaller coyote can be seen approaching the two year old. It knocks the child down, then attempts to drag the girl off by her legs. Only the quick action of her father, who ran at the coyote, yelling, drove off the animal. The coyote did not leave the area until the father threw a water bottle at it.

The action fits very well as a predatory attack. Young children are reasonably close to the size of prey which a coyote would feel capable of taking down. As coyotes become comfortable with humans, and gain experience that humans are not a danger to them, they are much more likely to "test" small humans as potential prey.

The immigrant family is from Israel, and has lived in the area for three years:

For generations, coyotes were considered vermin and shot at or killed when the opportunity presented. This is a common reason farmers and ranchers would keep a rifle handy. A classic recognition of this was shown in the immensely successful movie "The Parent Trap". The scene was in California.  From The Parent Trap, 1961:

California is one of only five states which do not have a protection of the right to keep and bear arms in the state constitution. In the 1960's the state started making it harder and harder to bear arms. It is very difficult to be able to legally carry firearms anywhere in the state, including rural areas.

During the same period, tolerance of predators has climbed with the influence of urban centered media, with Disney taking the lead. Much urban media has  promoted anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is a way of thinking of animals as furry humans. As hunting of coyotes has decreased, fear of humans has also decreased, resulting in increasing numbers of coyote attacks. The attack on the two year old in Woodland  Hills was the seventh attack on a human by coyotes in Los Angeles this year. From ktla.com:

This year, there have been seven recorded coyote attacks on people throughout the Los Angeles area.

Opinion:

To prevent attacks on humans, there is a time-proven solution. When coyotes become too comfortable around humans, kill the coyotes. Other coyote pack members quickly learn the lesson: humans are dangerous. Avoid them.