A five-year-old boy was attacked by a cougar while having a picnic with his family at a park campsite.
The family was eating at Malibu Creek State Park, west of Los Angeles, around 4:30 p.m. Sunday when the animal attacked them.
The animal grabbed the boy’s head in its jaws and tried to flee with its prey before the boy’s father could free him.
A five-year-old boy was attacked by a puma during a picnic with his family at a park campsite (archive image from the same park)
About 40 people who were in the camp at the time were shocked to see the puma brazenly enter the crowded area and attack.
“Someone shouted the baby’s name and his father started running,” a witness said. KTLA.
“The father grabbed the cougar with his hands and it held firm. Then the cougar let go.”
California State Park rangers, along with police and firefighters, responded to rescue the boy, who suffered head and eye injuries.
The family was eating at Malibu Creek State Park, west of Los Angeles, around 4:30 p.m. Sunday when the animal attacked them.
About 40 people who were in the camp at the time were shocked that the puma had brazenly entered the crowded area and attacked.
He was airlifted to Northridge Hospital Medical Center and released Sunday night, but later returned to the hospital to treat complications.
The cougar climbed a tree after the boy’s father and others chased it, and was still there when rangers found it.
The lion was determined to pose a threat to public safety and was fatally shot by a ranger.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife collected evidence and samples from the boy’s wounds and clothing and compared them to the lion’s DNA.
