JACKSON, Wyo. — A woman visiting Yellowstone National Park was attacked by a coyote in the Canyon Village area yesterday morning.
The victim has been identified only as a 43-year-old woman. She was cross-country skiing on the Grand Loop Road near the South Rim Drive when the incident occurred at approximately 9:50 a.m.
Bystanders who witnessed the attack took the injured woman to the Canyon Visitor Education Center, where rangers provided initial treatment for puncture wounds and lacerations to her head and arm. Rangers transported the woman to Mammoth Hot Springs by over-snow vehicle where she continued on to a medical facility.
Park staff temporarily closed the road, then positively identified and killed the coyote. A necropsy is being performed on the animal to determine whether or not it was rabid.
“Encounters like these are rare, but they can happen,” said wildlife biologist Doug Smith. “We suspect this coyote may have been starving due to having porcupine quills in its lower jaw and inside its mouth. Its young age likely led to its poor condition and irregular behavior.”
