Spc. Ronson Pua of the Hawaii Army National Guard searches July 29, 2023, for tree branches for concealment at Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, La. (Sean Walker/U.S. Army)
A group of soldiers was injured recently when they were attacked by several coyotes as they trained outdoors at Fort Johnson in western Louisiana, officials said Tuesday.
The soldiers were training near the Joint Readiness Training Center at the Army base last month when they encountered as many as four coyotes, base officials said. The Army did not say how many soldiers were attacked.
“Game [officials] assessed two to four coyotes were involved, and likely interacted with the soldiers due to the coyotes' territorial nature and potential den in the area,” according to a statement from Fort Johnson, formerly Fort Polk. “[Enforcement officers] neutralized one coyote, which was sent for rabies testing.”
The results of the rabies testing weren’t immediately available Tuesday.
The soldiers who encountered the animals were from the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, an Army National Guard unit stationed in Hawaii, officials at Fort Johnson said. The attack by the coyotes occurred July 21 and none of the soldiers were seriously hurt.
A coyote in a densely vegetated area. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
“The soldiers received a medical evaluation and treatment for their injuries,” base officials said without specifying the wounds that the soldiers suffered.
Since the soldiers were attacked, the base has been monitoring wildlife in the area to guard against any future encounters, according to a Fort Johnson spokesperson. The base is near the Kisatchie National Forest.
“No further coyote interaction has occurred, indicating this was an isolated event,” the spokesperson said.
A video posted to social media two days after the encounter claims 14 soldiers were attacked by the coyotes, and includes several photographs of what appear to be wounds to some of the soldiers. The video, however, has not been authenticated by the Army.
Fort Johnson occupies about 100,000 acres in west-central Louisiana. Tens of thousands of soldiers train at the Joint Readiness Training Center each year, according to the Army.
Coyotes are common across the United States and rarely attack humans. When coyotes do attack people, they almost never inflict serious injuries and there are very few known fatal coyote attacks on record, according to wildlife experts. Fort Johnson did not say whether the animals attacked without provocation.
