A courageous Colorado mother fought off a mountain lion that attacked her 5-year-old son in the front yard of their Pitkin County home on Friday, June 17.
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The ordeal started Friday evening when the 5-year-old and his older brother were playing outside their home near the resort town of Aspen, Buglione said.
Emergency dispatchers received a call at about 8 p.m. from the boy’s father, who said he was driving his son to the hospital after the attack, said Pitkin County Undersheriff Ron Ryan. The mom then reached into the animal’s mouth and pried her son’s head from its jaws.
The mother had minor injuries from the attack but was released from the hospital in good condition.
The boy is at Children’s Hospital in Denver and is receiving treatment for injuries to his face, head and neck.
The last known lion attack on a human in Colorado occurred in July 2015.
After the attack, deputies and an officer with the U.S. Forest Service located a mountain lion in the area and the animal was put down, police said.
Buglione says the mother had bite marks on her hand and scratches on her leg after the lion, estimated to be about 2 years old, ran off.
Parks and Wildlife officials are on scene to examine the dead mountain lion and continue their investigation.
Mountain lions are generally calm, quiet, and elusive.
“They’re wild animals. They find habitat where they can forage for food”, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Matt Robbins said.
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Reuters reports that Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said there have been two, possible three, fatalities related to mountain lion attacks in the state since 1991, while some 16 people have been injured by cougars since 1970. According to CPW officials, the approximately two-year-old male lion was observed in the area of the incident when it was killed.
