LA fears coyote attack after folk singer’s death

Following the killing of the young Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell by wild coyotes in Nova Scotia, the people of Los Angeles have got it into their heads that they have reason to fear a similar attack in urban LA.

Two men claim they were bitten by coyotes in LA's Griffith Park, just weeks before Mitchell was mauled to death by a pair of coyotes in Cape Breton Highlands national park.

Griffith Park, often called the Central Park of Los Angeles, is one of North America's largest urban parks. Following the complaints, LA city officials called in marksmen, who killed nine coyotes.

Coyotes are normally shy and attacks on humans are extremely rare, with Mitchell, 19, only the second person known to have died from an attack. The other fatality did occur in California, when a coyote attacked toddler Kelly Keen in 1981. Like Mitchell, she died in hospital after the attack.

But after the Griffith Park cull, it has emerged that the two LA victims had not been bitten at all - one was a scratch, the other a bruise. Despite this, bloggers are still wondering whether Angelenos should be on their guard.

The experts say they have nothing to fear: coyotes in Nova Scotia and the northeastern States are a completely different breed to their Californian counterparts. They are sometimes called hybrids or 'coy-wolf' because they are part wolf, and are around 5kg heavier. (The picture above is of a red wolf, which some scientists think could be a coyote-wolf hybrid.)

Griffith Park ranger Tom Mendidles told LA Weekly there had never been 'coy-wolf' in Griffith Park. The park is "like an island", separated by houses and freeways from any outlying packs of coyotes and therefore immune to interbreeding.

People in Nova Scotia may have more reason to worry. Canadian pathologists say that preliminary tests on one of the coyotes who killed Taylor Mitchell show that the animal was in good health, and had no reason to be aggressive. "There is no evidence of physical injury, starvation or rabies," said Chip Bird, a Parks Canada official.

Taylor Mitchell had recently released her debut album, For Your Consideration, and was in the middle of a tour of Canada's maritime provinces when the October 27 attack happened. Her family has set up a memorial fund in her name.

Mitchell's mother Emily has also stressed that although the singer was alone in the national park she was a "seasoned naturalist" and experienced hiker. Emily has asked authorities to spare any remaining coyotes involved in the attack.