Coyote attacks child, 2, on Dallas porch

DALLAS — A 2-year-old child is in critical condition after being mauled by a coyote Tuesday on the front porch of a Dallas home, police said.

The attack happened about 8:30 a.m. in a neighborhood just north of White Rock Lake.

A police officer responding to the call spotted the coyote in a park near the home and opened fire on the animal, which retreated into nearby woods, according to a police statement.

It was unknown if the officer wounded the animal, but a search with a game warden began, police said. They are warning neighborhood residents that the coyote should be considered extremely dangerous.

The attack came less than a week after a coyote attacked a 2-year-old girl on Southern California’s Huntington Beach. That animal was later shot dead.

Wildlife experts said the Texas coyote evidently had been fed by neighborhood residents, whether intentionally or not. Otherwise it would have shied away from human contact, said state urban wildlife biologist Sam Kieschnick. Such attacks “are not just rare, they are exceedingly rare,” he said.