Coyotes cause concern in Montreal

THREE YOUNG CHILDREN BITTEN BY COYOTES OVER THE PAST WEEK: POLICE

The City of Montreal said Sunday it was taking action to prevent coyote attacks, after police reported that three young children were bitten within the span of a week.

In a statement, the city said it had installed cameras and bait, and would be increasing the presence of city employees around parks where the incidents occurred as part of what it called a “scaring campaign.”

“The city is working closely with the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks to put in place the necessary actions ... as the situation evolves,” the statement read.

The most recent attack occurred Saturday, when a three-year-old boy was wounded by a coyote at about 6:30 p.m. in a park in the AhuntsicCartierville borough, police said. The child was taken to hospital with minor injuries as a precautionary measure.

A boy and a girl, both age five, were also bitten in separate incidents last week. Police said they both suffered minor injuries, and health officials specified that the boy suffered a bite to the calf, while the girl had a lowerbody injury.

The city launched a coyote management program earlier this year amid a rise in the number of sightings, saying on its website earlier this month that some 600 coyote sightings had been reported in just under a year.

“People forget it, but coyotes have always been urban animals,” city biologist Frederic Bussiere said in the article published by the city on July 13.

They're found in every North American city, but “we don't notice them because they've chosen to adopt a nocturnal lifestyle in order to avoid encounters with humans, which they fear,” he said.