Coyote attacks: What to do to prevent them and how to stay safe

Experts share tips on what you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones amidst an uptick in coyote attacks across Canada.

In light of recent coyote attacks across Canada, a wildlife organization is sharing a few tips on what you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Coyotes play a vital role in the ecosystem, experts say, by controlling the population of certain prey species like rabbits, geese and deer. However, they can also be a threat to pets and small children if they become aggressive.

This time of year can be especially dangerous, according to Coyote Watch Canada, a not-for-profit organization that works to educate humans on co-existence with coyotes.

“Right now, in the coyote world, they're raising families…So, coyote parents are very devoted to their young pups and they could be very stressed and super vigilant at this time,” Lesley Sampson, executive director at Coyote Watch Canada, told CTV’s Your Morning on Friday.

Earlier this year, 6-year-old girl was bitten at a park in Burnaby, B.C., according to the provincial Conservation Officer Service. Earlier this month, a pack of coyotes attacked a jogger and his dogs in North Vancouver, B.C.

In Winnipeg, in the span of a week in late June, a 9-year-old was mauled by a coyote and then a 4-year-old was attacked by another. In July, a coyote pup entered a woman’s house.

In Ontario, a resident of the town of LaSalle warned his community after three coyotes approached him and his dogs near a children's playground over the weekend.