Colorado officials say coyote that attacked a 4-year-old has been captured

Officials from Colorado Parks and Wildlife say they have captured and put down a coyote that attacked a 4 year old. The attack happened in the Colorado Springs area last month in a neighborhood east of Monument Creek and Interstate 25 near the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Witnesses say that on Thanksgiving day, a group of children were playing and under adult supervision when a 4-year-old girl and another child saw what they thought was a dog behind a tree and approached it. The coyote then attacked the girl, grabbing her by the back of her head, before an adult could scare it off.

The girl had to be rushed to the hospital and had to undergo multiple surgeries.

Wildlife officers say they trapped the animal and found human DNA in its paws and also say: 

- It had human food in its stomach.
- It likely had been fed by someone.
- It had lost fear of humans.

Following the attack, wildlife officers said they were planning to trap and kill all of the coyotes in the area as a precautionary measure. That effort has now stopped.

"The pursuit of coyotes in the north Colorado Springs neighborhood has ended," CPW officials wrote in a news release.

An investigation into who may have been feeding coyotes is ongoing.

"A 4-year-old child suffered serious injuries and her family was traumatized because someone was feeding wildlife," said Tim Kroening, CPW's wildlife manager for the Pikes Peak area, in a prepared statement. "Since we began our search, we routinely saw three coyotes that boldly approached houses and clearly had lost their fear of humans. This tells us they were searching for food. As a result, we continue to investigate the source of the feeding."