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Young boy recovers after rare cougar attack

Shikarov
Young boy recovers after rare cougar attack

A five-year-old boy is recovering after being attacked by a cougar at Malibu Creek State Park over the weekend.

The child was airlifted to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to LAist. The cougar was deemed a threat to public safety and was euthanized by California State Parks rangers.

However, Patrick Foy, captain of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Service’s law enforcement division, told LAist that the attack is an extremely rare incident.

“To put that in context, when you compare the likelihood of being attacked by a domestic dog, which is literally an order or two greater than the likelihood of being attacked by any wild animal — a bear, a mountain lion, a coyote,” he said.

What happened

The boy was attacked shortly after 4:15 p.m. Sunday in the Tapia Park Public Use Area, near the intersection of Las Virgenes Road and Dorothy Drive in Calabasas.

The Woodland Hills family, including six adults and several children, were having a picnic. The children were playing at the table when the mountain lion attacked the boy, causing serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Foy said.

At least one of the adults lunged at the lion, including the father, who forcibly pushed the animal away to get it away from his son.

“This family did everything right,” Foy said.

The child was airlifted to Northridge Hospital Medical Center and discharged home the next day.

The attack was witnessed by several people who saw the puma climb a nearby tree and remain there until rangers arrived and tranquilized it.

Wildlife officials collected evidence from the boy’s bite and scratch wounds and transported them to the Sacramento forensics lab. They “definitely” matched samples taken from the mountain lion.

“The fact that this lion came out of a densely overgrown area and attacked this little boy was terribly unfortunate and traumatic, both physically and emotionally, for the little boy and his family,” Foy said.

  • The National Park Service asks residents in areas where cougars live to take the following precautions:

    • Don’t run or hike alone. Go in groups with adults supervising children.
    • Keep children close to you. Do not allow children to play along river banks, in dense vegetation, or alone at dawn or dusk. When hiking with children, watch them closely and never let them run in front of you. Observations of captured wild pumas show that these animals seem particularly attracted to children.

    If you encounter a lion, remember that the goal is to convince it that you are not prey and that you may be dangerous. Follow these safety tips:

    • Do not approach the lion. Most pumas will try to avoid confrontation. Give them the opportunity to escape.
    • Don’t run from a lion. Running can stimulate a cougar’s chase instinct. Instead, stand and face the animal. Make eye contact. If you have small children with you, pick them up if possible so they don’t panic and run away. Although it may be awkward, pick them up without bending or turning away from the cougar.
    • Don’t crouch or lean. A standing human is simply not the right posture for a lion’s prey. A person crouching or leaning, on the other hand, resembles a four-legged game animal. In cougar country, avoid crouching, squatting, or leaning, even when lifting children.
    • Do whatever you can to make yourself look bigger. Raise your shoulders. Open your jacket if you’re wearing one. Again, pick up small children. Throw rocks, branches, or anything you can reach without crouching or turning around. Wave your arms slowly and speak firmly and loudly. The idea is to convince the cougar that you are not prey and that you may be a threat to it.
    • Fight back. A tourist in Southern California used a rock to fend off a mountain lion that was attacking his son. Others have fended off attacks with sticks, hats, jackets, gardening tools and their bare hands. Because mountain lions usually try to bite the head or neck, try to stay upright and face the attacking animal.

The Big Picture

Cougar attacks on humans are rare, but one such incident occurred earlier this year.

In March two brothers were attacked by a 90-pound male mountain lion in a remote location in El Dorado County. The 21-year-old died at the scene, but his 18-year-old brother was able to call 911 and survived.

It was the first confirmed death from a cougar attack in California since 2004, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The most reliable way to know you’re in cougar habitat is to be in a place where there are a lot of deer,” Foy said. “Deer are the preferred prey of lions, and any place where you see a lot of deer, there’s a good chance you’ll be in their presence, at least in cougar habitat.”

The latest incident in Calabasas also occurred at this time of year.

In August 2021, a 5-year-old boy was attacked by a young cougar near his home in the Santa Monica Mountains. The cougar was killed and the boy He apparently recovered.

This was reportedly the first incident involving a human and a lion in the area in more than 25 years. Mountain Lion Foundation.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, there have been five confirmed attacks in Southern California in the past five years. current listwhich was last updated in March.

You can learn more about what to do if you encounter a cougar Here.

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