A coyote bit a young child on a popular beach in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Wednesday night.
According to a statement released by the National Park Service, the 3-year-old little girl was attacked around 8:30 p.m. on North Herring Cove Beach, according to the report released by the National Park Service. The toddler was brought to Cape Cod Hospital for evaluation with non-life-threatening injuries.
Park rangers destroyed the animal responsible for biting the child. After shooting the coyote, the mortally wounded animal was tracked so that it could be located and taken for testing. The coyote’s body was recovered the following day and will be tested for rabies.
Park officials are urging people not to feed the coyotes. They have responded to numerous “incidents of coyotes acting assertively toward people” this summer, according to the statement. Beachgoers are intentionally attracting the animals by leaving food out for them or unintentionally not removing trash from the beach.
