Central Los Angeles : City Rejected Coyote Plan

Three months before a toddler was attacked by a coyote in Griffith Park, Los Angeles recreation officials rejected a suggestion to bring in a federal animal control unit to track down rogue coyotes in the park, saying the problem did not constitute an emergency at the time.

Recreation officials Monday defended their decision not to call in a team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in May, saying that at the time they could not foresee that the coyote problem would escalate.

“It didn’t seem like an uncontrollable emergency,” said Mary Braunwarth, a spokeswoman for the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.

That was before Thursday’s attack on 15-month-old Erica Galvin, the third coyote attack in Griffith Park since May. Galvin, who was visiting Los Angeles with her family, was treated and released at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles for puncture wounds on her right leg.

The day after the attack, recreation officials hired a private firm to use leg traps and armed trackers to capture and kill the coyotes that were believed responsible for the problems.

Over the weekend, two coyotes were captured, killed and sent to county public health officials for rabies testing.