After an exhaustive search and pursuit, Chicago police and animal control officials were able to capture a coyote on Chicago’s North Side on Thursday night.
The animal was chased by police and animal control officials through several city blocks, but was finally captured near the intersection of North Fremont Street and West Willow Street just after 10 p.m. Thursday.
Video showed the animal being loaded into an Animal Care and Control van after it was shot with a tranquilizer.
It is unclear if the animal is the one wanted in a pair of recent attacks in the city. In one incident Wednesday, a coyote attacked a 6-year-old boy in Lincoln Park, leaving the boy hospitalized with wounds to his face.
In the overnight hours Thursday, another attack was reported, as a coyote attacked a man in Streeterville. It is unclear if the coyote was the same animal involved in the Lincoln Park attack.
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Experts say that coyote attacks against humans are exceedingly rare, with approximately one per year recorded in the United States. Coyotes can become aggressive if humans provide ready sources of food, or if the animal is sick, according to experts.
There are approximately 2,000 coyotes in the Chicago area, according to researchers.
Chicago police had been going after another coyote near the intersection of Oak and Hudson on Thursday night, but it appears that the coyote was able to escape.
