Authorities have said that a teenage Canadian girl Monday survived being attacked by a coyote while she slept at a campground in Nova Scotia.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has reported that the attack occurred about 4:30 a. m. in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. A nearby hospital treated the unidentified girl for two bite wounds to her scalp and released her, the network said.

Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada, said, "It's difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn't appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did. It's important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred."

The agency was educating visitors about coyote behavior and how to react if attacked, Quann said. The agency also was taking steps to attract any coyotes in the area so they could be safely and humanely trapped, he added.

The CBC further said that there are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say up to half of them could be killed by next spring. (With Inputs from Agencies)