Three coyotes have been killed near White Rock Lake after a two-year-old was mauled at his home in Lake Highlands Tuesday morning.
Wildlife Agent Adam Henry, with the USDA, says they’re weeding the aggressive coyotes out of the population.
“We’re trying to get back to those good coyotes that have not had a problem,” Henry said. “We’re only selectively removing coyotes in those areas that are potentially causing harm to humans.”
He says they removed one that matches the description of the child’s attacker, but because the child’s wounds were cleaned before going into surgery, they’re relying on photographs to confirm.
“Unfortunately the coyotes we’re seeing all have a very similar appearance,” Henry said.
Several people in the White Rock Lake area say they’ve been calling the city about the coyotes and haven’t gotten a response. Dallas Animal services confirmed that it received more than a dozen calls before the attack, and officials say they responded to all of them either by sending someone out or by trying to get in contact with the complainant. At the end of the day, officials say the reporting system isn’t as user-friendly as it could be.
“We could have done better,” said Ann Barnes, with the DAS.
The city has launched a new hotline to report coyote sightings - (469)-676-9813.
Officials say they want to make it clear they’re not blaming anyone for the attack, however, they’ve been hearing of suspicious activity near White Rock Lake.
“I did start talking to several residents that were in the area, and I had at least three of them mention to me that there’s people in the area have been feeding them,” said Brett Johnson, Urban Biologist for the city.
Johnson says feeding the coyotes is sure to cause trouble, whether you’re doing it intentionally or not. Believe it or not, something as simple as leaving cat food out counts as unintentional feeding.
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