Name: Rogue Moraga coyote linked by DNA to two recent attacks
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Rogue Moraga coyote linked by DNA to two recent attacks

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateUsing DNA collected from two Moraga attacks, state game wardens have determined that the same rogue coyote bit a 2-year-old boy and man five months apart.California Fish and Wildlife officials have begun trapping coyotes in the area of the latest attack on Dec. 4 near Campolindo High School. They have caught and euthanized three coyotes, but none had DNA matching the “offending coyote,” said Fish and Wildlife Capt. Patrick Foy.“We’ve had reports of aggressive coyotes in that area,” Foy said. “We started thinking we should do a little extra work.”On the morning of Dec. 4, a Moraga man was doing push-ups on the Campolindo High track when a coyote . Kenji Sytz fought off the coyote with the help of his friends and scared it off. State officials took his workout pants and collected the DNA, and they were able to isolate a full coyote genetic profile from where the animal’s teeth pierced the clothing, Foy said.A Fish and Wildlife lab matched the DNA to another attack, on , at the Moraga Commons, about 1½ miles south of the high school. A coyote bit a 2-year-old boy near a restroom by a parking lot. The toddler’s nanny struck the animal with a bike helmet to scare it away, Foy said. State investigators collected DNA from the boy’s bite marks, Foy said.“It is sad, but also good to know that it’s one coyote and not multiple,” Sytz said Sunday upon learning the news of the matched DNA. He said he is healing well, including taking preventive shots for rabies.More for youOn April 1, a coyote a 6-year-old girl in Dublin Hills Regional Park, biting her neck and ear before the girl’s mother scared away the animal. , a visitor to the Moraga Country Club was sitting by a fire pit when he was bitten on the leg, though it was not immediately clear what type of animal attacked him. It was unclear whether DNA samples were taken in those attacks.On Dec. 8, game wardens received a report of an aggressive coyote also south of Campolindo High, but it did not result in an attack, Foy said.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.There have been seven confirmed coyote bites in California this year, Foy said, including at least three in the Bay Area. A single coyote attack on a human is “extremely rare,” he said. The game warden lieutenant from the Bay Area region could not recall a single coyote bite to a human in more than a decade of working in the area, Foy said.Other animal bites are also up across California this year, Foy said. The state has recorded three mountain lion bites and six or seven bear bites, Foy said. He added that there was no indication that the pandemic has played a role in the uptick.Wildlife rangers have advised that anyone followed by a coyote should make loud noises and if that fails, throw rocks.Foy said residents could refer to to learn ways to coexist with coyotes and other wildlife.Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateUsing DNA collected from two Moraga attacks, state game wardens have determined that the same rogue coyote bit a 2-year-old boy and man five months apart.California Fish and Wildlife officials have begun trapping coyotes in the area of the latest attack on Dec. 4 near Campolindo High School. They have caught and euthanized three coyotes, but none had DNA matching the “offending coyote,” said Fish and Wildlife Capt. Patrick Foy.“We’ve had reports of aggressive coyotes in that area,” Foy said. “We started thinking we should do a...

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Matthias Gafni

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Rogue Moraga coyote linked by DNA to two recent attacks

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