August 22, 2019
An eight-year-old boy in Bailey, CO (about 47 miles southwest of Denver) suffered “serious” head injuries late yesterday after a mountain lion attacked him while he was playing in his yard.
The unnamed boy was running across his yard, headed to a neighbors house when the big cat pounced, pinned him to the ground, and bit him on the head. The boy’s father managed to chase the mountain lion off after being alerted by the boy’s brother. The boy remained in the hospital overnight after being rushed there with “serious injuries.”
“The kid was running and it probably triggered the lion’s natural response to a prey animal running,” Wildlife Manager Mark Lamb explained. “We all hope that the child will be all right and you just hate to see this occur.”
Wildlife officials are currently tracking the animal, which, if found, must be put down, according to state wildlife policy.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) reports that this is the third mountain lion attack on a human this year. There have been 22 such attacks reported since 1970, three of them fatal.
UPDATE:
August, 23: KKTV News in Bailey, CO reports that Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials have euthanized two mountain lions, one of which was tentatively identified as the one who had attacked the eight-year-old boy.
(Source: FoxNews)
