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Canadian hiker killed by coyotes

CHETICAMP, Nova Scotia, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A 19-year-old Toronto woman died early Wednesday hours after being mauled by two coyotes in a Nova Scotia national park, police said.

The unidentified woman was hiking in Cape Breton Highlands National Park when the attack occurred around 3:15 pm Tuesday, the Cape Breton Post reported.

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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said other hikers shooed the coyotes off the woman but they remained close by. An RCMP officer shot one of the animals, but it crawled into the brush as the other coyote fled.

The woman was taken to a hospital with major injuries and then airlifted to a Halifax hospital, where she died overnight, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.

A search was continuing Wednesday for the body of the coyote that was shot.

Biologist Don Anderson with the Department of Natural Resources told the Post coyote attacks on humans are rare unless the animal is diseased or has lost its fear of humans because of too much contact or being fed.

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