Search For Coyote Continues After Several Attacks In The San Francisco Bay Area

An unusually aggressive coyote roaming an eastern suburb of the San Francisco Bay has hikers and residents on edge after biting five people and sparking an urgent effort by police and wildlife officials to capture the elusive predator.

DNA taken from the victims' bite wounds and clothing has linked all five attacks since last summer to a single coyote in a roughly two-mile radius in and around the East Bay cities of Moraga and Lafayette. The predator has bitten adults and kids, including children ages 2 and 3.

A man said he was bitten while doing his regular morning workout at a local high school football field. He was doing a push-up when he felt a sharp pain in his left leg. Attacks also have occurred at a playground and outside a grocery store. The latest last Friday was outside a Kwik Stop convenience store. All bite wound victims have recovered.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture and local police, are working to euthanize and then test the aggressive coyote for rabies.