An up-and-coming folk singer has died after being attacked by coyotes in a national park in eastern Canada.

Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old Toronto singer-songwriter, was hiking alone in the Breton Highlands national park, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday when the attack occurred.

Brigdit Leger, a Royal Canadian Mounted police spokeswoman, said other hikers heard Mitchell's screams and called for help. "The coyotes were extremely aggressive," Leger told the Toronto Star.

Officers reached the scene quickly and shot one of the animals, but Mitchell had suffered multiple bite wounds, the emergency health services said. She was airlifted to a Halifax hospital in a critical condition and died yesterday.

Bob Bancroft, a retired biologist with the Nova Scotia department of natural resources, said coyote attacks were rare because the animals were usually shy. "It's very unusual and is not likely to be repeated," he said.

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