Andrea Athie of Ciudad Victoria became a viral superstar in Latin America after rescuing an animal she believed it was an injured dog, but soon discovered was a wild coyote.

The girl from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas was driving when she noticed the canine struggling on the roadside. Realizing it was wounded, she quickly retrieved the animal and brought it into her car.

She took it to a vet, and there, she was shocked to learn that the animal was not a dog, but a coyote!

Coyotes are members of the dog family, and they once lived primarily in open prairies and deserts. Yet, nowadays, they roam the continent’s forests and mountains and have even colonized cities.

Coyotes share a lot of the same traits as their relatives: wolves, dogs, foxes, and jackals. They have narrow, elongated snouts, lean bodies, yellow eyes, bushy tails, and thick fur. Moreover, they are about as big as medium-sized dogs, though they are smaller than wolves.

Therefore, it is no wonder that Andrea believed the animal she rescued was a dog.

Yet, her brother Alejandro found it all very funny, and the incident quickly went viral as he tweeted photos of it, and called attention to her confusion, explaining:

Andrea responded:

“Why did you burn me like that!? Haha, I love you.”

She also added that she named the coyote “Pancho”, and he was in good health and being taken care of. The coyote was docile and friendly, and it never tried to attack her.

Andrea also tweeted that Pancho would receive five days of intense treatment so that his hind legs could be healed.

Yet, in the next update, she explained that the recovery would take longer than expected, as he was not responding as expected, and he didn’t want to eat or cooperate to try to move after his treatments.

The animal lover stated that he is a wild animal, so he grows depressed outside of his natural habitat, but they will keep trying.

Sources:
themindunleashed.com
www.nationalgeographic.com
www.livescience.com