(KTLA) – A security camera captured the terrifying moment a coyote attacked a 2-year-old in broad daylight in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills.
The video shows the toddler being attacked and dragged by the coyote, all in a matter of seconds. The girl’s parents, Shira and Ariel Eliyahuo, said they had just arrived back home from preschool, parked the car and taken their daughter out of her car seat.
As the parents collected her toys inside the car, a coyote can be seen running toward the toddler and biting down on her legs, dragging her facedown onto the sidewalk. While the girl screamed for help, her dad, Ariel, ran over to rescue her while yelling loudly to scare off the coyote.
“For a second, he [Ariel] just turned inside the car and he just heard her screaming and he didn’t see the coyote, he thought she fell,” explained the girl’s mother, Shira. “So he ran over and he saw the coyote.”
The coyote appeared unfazed as it lingered for a few moments before Ariel is seen throwing a rock at the animal.
“She has a lot of scratches on her left leg and one of them is really deep,” Shira said of her daughter’s injuries. “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.”
While a crew with Nexstar’s KTLA was reporting on scene, a coyote suddenly appeared in front of the family’s home Friday night. Ariel chased the coyote back into the bushes.
The family said they’re tired of the animals lurking in their neighborhood. They want to prevent an attack like this from happening to another child, and are hoping the city will get involved by trapping and removing the coyotes from the community.
