A 4-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion in southern California, but survived after his father scared away the cat known to people in the area.
Officials said the boy was attacked on Memorial Day about 2:30 p.m. while with family at the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. San Diego Fire-Rescue Department told 10News that responders found the boy and his father seeking help for lacerations to the boy's head. He was conscious when transported to a local hospital.
The news channel reported that bystanders said the father kicked the mountain lion and threw a rock at it to scare it.
"It's pretty spooky because we've known there's a big cat down here," Katherine Weadock, who lives in the neighborhood, told 10News. "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."
The preserve is east of Carmel and north of San Diego.
Mountain Lion Killed, Attack Confirmed
Four days after the attack, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed a mountain lion attacked the boy. Hours after the attack, CDFW officers canvasing the area killed a mountain lion that approached them and showed no fear.
From the CDFW press release:
Wildlife officers and forensics scientists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have concluded their investigation of the mountain lion attack at the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve in San Diego County.
A complete mountain lion genetic profile was obtained from the samples collected from the young boy who was attacked on Memorial Day, which was found to be identical to the profile obtained from the mountain lion killed the day of the incident. This DNA analysis conclusively proves the mountain lion is the exact one that attacked the victim.
On Monday, May 27, in the afternoon, wildlife officers responded to the park where the 4-year-old boy was being treated by San Diego Fire-Rescue after sustaining a non-life-threatening injury consistent with a mountain lion attack. The boy was part of a group of 11 people recreating in the park at the time.
The wildlife officers identified mountain lion tracks at the scene. Very shortly thereafter and in the same area, a mountain lion approached the officers. The lion appeared to have little fear of humans, which is abnormal behavior for a mountain lion. The wildlife officers immediately killed the animal to ensure public safety and to collect forensic evidence to potentially match the mountain lion to the victim.
The officers collected clothing and other samples from the boy. Those samples, plus scrapings from underneath the mountain lion’s claws, were sent to the CDFW Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Sacramento for DNA analysis.
