How the hard-boiled egg got into the coyote's stomach remains a mystery, but it was there when the animal shot at the Canada Games Centre was opened up Monday for examination.

The coyote was killed last Saturday afternoon in the parking lot after he had nipped a seven-year-old girl in the buttocks, and was continuing to display aggressive behaviour.

Veterinarian Mary VanderKop of Environment Yukon said today it's likely the coyote consumed the egg within hours of being shot.

"His intestinal tract was empty and he had not eaten for a couple of days but the stomach had a hard-boiled egg,” she told the Star.

"It had been chewed up and the shell was missing but the yolk was pretty much intact.”

VanderKop said whether the coyote scavenged the egg from garbage or had been fed directly by somebody admiring and thinking they were helping out the animal is impossible to tell.

The one thing that is fairly certain, however, is the coyote had somehow become habituated to humans, and it killed him, she said.

The necropsy, VanderKop added, did not turn up any evidence of disease which might have affected the animal's behaviour.

The vet said the incident emphasizes the importance of not feeding wildlife, taking steps to secure garbage bins and making sure food – including pet food or bones for the dog – are not left about.

Animals, particularly if they have young, are constantly searching for food, and the easier the source, the better, VanderKop said.

She said coyotes are very smart, adapt quickly, and swiftly become bold.

"This guy came right up to people, close contact, on more than one occasion, so he had no fear, or reduced fear, of people,” she said. "And that was the consequence.”

She said conservation officers are convinced after comparing photographs of the bite mark with the profile of the coyote's mouth, the animal they shot was the same who bit the girl.

Had it not been the same, it's more than likely the coyote would have returned to the Games Centre at some point since, but it hasn't, she said.

Senior enforcement officer Kris Gustafson said through their investigation, conservation officers learned that a short time before the girl was bitten, a coyote had approached and displayed aggressive behaviour with three boys horsing around down the hill from the centre.

Even when the coyote was chased away after he bit the girl, he returned.

VanderKop said the Yukon's branch of environmental health has not ordered a sample of brain matter be expedited to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to test for rabies.

The skin was not broken, but only bruised, and there was no sign of disease when the animal was examined, she pointed out.

VanderKop said a sample will nonetheless be sent for testing eventually as part of her department's regular routine to send out random samples to look for any trace of rabies, though this one may be given a little more priority.

There has not been a confirmed case of rabies in the Yukon in recent memory.