CHICAGO _ Animal control workers caught a coyote Thursday evening on Chicago's North Side, but authorities said it might not be known for weeks whether it's the same animal that attacked a 6-year-old boy the day before about two miles away.
The coyote, which appeared injured, was spotted around 10 p.m. in the 1700 block of North Dayton Street in the Lincoln Park area, according to Chicago Animal Care and Control. Workers from the agency caught up with the animal about a block away and "safely" shot it with a tranquilizer dart.
Animal control officials are attempting to determine if the captured coyote is the same animal that attacked a boy Wednesday afternoon outside the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park, biting him on the head. Two DePaul University track team members were running nearby when the coyote attacked the boy and said they helped kick the animal away.
Animal control said Friday morning that DNA testing and evaluation of the captured coyote was expected to take a few weeks. An agency spokeswoman said the animal was being taken to a local animal rehabilitation center, where the DNA testing and additional evaluation will occur.
The boy was walking along a path in a park area near the museum when he came upon the coyote on a grassy hill, officials said. The boy may have startled the animal, which bit the boy. The child's nanny and several bystanders came to the boy's aid.
Officials said in a statement Friday they "will continue to aggressively patrol the area in response to any potential coyote sightings."
Alderman Brian Hopkins, whose 2nd Ward includes the museum, tweeted that "preliminary indications strongly suggest this is the animal involved ... waiting for DNA test results to confirm."
The alderman said the coyote may also be the same animal that bit a man in the buttocks later Wednesday in the Streeterville neighborhood. Neither the boy nor the man, who showed up at a hospital with what he said was a coyote bite, suffered life-threatening injuries.
The attack on the boy is believed to be the first by a coyote on a human in the Chicago area in at least a decade, said Kelley Gandurski, executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control.
