A mountain lion attacked a boy in Southern California on May 27. Officials have since killed the big cat.
BREAKING: Fish and Wildlife have confirmed to @CBS8 that a mountain lion has been killed in the Los Penasquitos Canyon area last night. They are taking it to Sacramento now for DNA testing to confirm it was the animal that attacked a young boy yesterday.
— Chris Gros (@ChrisNews8) May 28, 2019
Witnesses said that the child, who was not named, was near a waterfall at the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve when the mountain lion approached him.
People told authorities that the boy’s father kicked the mountain lion and hurled a rock at it, scaring it away.
The boy was rushed to a hospital with head injuries, reported 10 News.
“It’s pretty spooky because we’ve known there’s a big cat down here,” Katherine Weadock, who lives in the neighborhood, told the broadcaster.
SDFD say a child was attacked in a canyon by a mountain lion or a bobcat in Rancho Penasquitos Caution tape is now blocking the entrance of a trail off of Park Village Rd. @fox5sandiego pic.twitter.com/TX5d8uC89x
— Andrew Nomura (@NomuraReports) May 28, 2019
A security camera in the area recently captured a mountain lion walking across a backyard. The video was posted online and sparked a discussion.
“We’ve seen tons of deer down here so it’s not unusual to have a mountain lion where there’s deer, because that’s their favorite food,” Weadock said.
According to KUSI, the boy was about 4 years old.
KUSI reported on May 24 that a woman said her husband and 12-year-old son were riding mountain bikes in the same preserve when a mountain lion appeared on a trail.
Around 2:30 p.m. reports came in that a young boy had been attacked by a mountain lion or bobcat at Rancho Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, authorities said.https://t.co/T6cPoh25iZ
— KUSI News (@KUSINews) May 28, 2019
According to an account posted on Next Door, the animal started to follow the pair, prompting the father to get off his bike, grab his bike, and threaten the animal with it while shouting.
The mountain lion then ran off.
Richard Burg, a wildlife biologist who works for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the broadcaster that people who encounter a mountain lion should not run away. Instead, people should try to appear large and threatening, doing things like waving arms and yelling.
Burg noted that sightings of mountain lions are more frequent after dusk and that attacks on people are not common.
According to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, there have been 14 mountain lion attacks of humans between 1986 and 2014, with the last fatal attack taking place in January 2004 in Whiting Ranch Regional Park. The victim was a 35-year-old male.
4-Year-Old Boy Attacked By Mountain Lion At Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve https://t.co/vfuCPIZH25
— KOGO Radio (@KOGORadio) May 28, 2019
None of the recorded attacks took place at the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. A 56-year-old female was killed at Cuyamaca State Park in San Diego County in December 1994, about a year after a 10-year-old female was attacked in the same park but survived.
The department “defines a mountain lion attack as an incident resulting in direct physical contact between a human and a mountain lion resulting in physical injury or death to the person,” it stated.
“According to historical reports, four additional fatal incidents involving six victims occurred around the turn of the previous century. Furthermore, two additional incidents have been reported by the media as attacks. However, they do not fit the criteria of verifiable attacks on humans and were not confirmed,” it added.
“One incident involved a turkey hunter who was camouflaged and calling for turkeys when a mountain lion approached from behind. Immediately after the mountain lion confronted the hunter and realized that the hunter was not a turkey, the lion ran away. This is not judged to be an attack on a human. Every indication suggests that if the hunter had not been camouflaged and calling like a turkey, the mountain lion would have avoided him. The other incident on the Los Padres National Forest was described as a mountain lion attack on a boy near a stream. However, the alleged injuries were not verified by a physician, law enforcement officer or CDFW personnel.”
