Obviously a very unusual situation for an adult to be attacked. Although inital reports said there were only two coyotes involved, other reports say there could have been as many as a dozen on the scene, which would make a little more sense.
We have seen throughout North America increasing incidences of coyotes trying to snatch away small children . . . . . but taking down an adult human is a significant escalation from the norm.
When I'm out walking the prairie or hinterlands with my dogs, my general rule of thumb is I'm not worried about two coyotes, I'll watch three of them more closely and if there are five or more together I'm going to assume I've going to have a problem and will exit the scene.
I've had many instances where a coyote or a couple of coyotes have tried to lure my dogs away from me. I know there are others nearby.
I've witnessed how a larger group of coyotes can work together . . . . from my hilltop aerie I saw a group of coyotes get into position, then one lured a farm dog into a chase that ended up in the middle of the group. Fortunately, just as I was heading down the hill with a bat and the missus was phoning the neighbour, some other farm dogs were there to help their friend out of trouble. But seeing how those coyotes formed a plan requiring teamwork - and executed it with forethought - was mighty awesome and sobering.
I photographed this guy below driving slowly down the Smith Dorrien Trail (I had just come out of a parking lot). One of my dogs had her head out the back window of the Durango. He saw her and deliberately altered his flight to come right at us, trotting down the middle of the road only a couple of yards from the vehicle, eyeing my dog closely and, I think, hoping for a chase. Given his deliberate demeanour, I assumed this guy has had some successful experience killing domesticated dogs at campgrounds.
Cowperson