A 5-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion and required hospital treatment over the Labor Day weekend at a California state park.
The attack unfolded Sunday afternoon as a family from Woodland Hills was having a picnic at Malibu State Creek Park, in the Santa Monica mountains of Southern California, The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said. The group was in the Tapia Day Use area of the park, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said.
“The children were playing in the immediate vicinity of the family’s picnic table when a mountain lion attacked a 5-year-old boy,” the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
Officials said ”one or more adults charged at the lion” and it released the boy. The boy suffered “significant but non-life-threatening injuries.”
The boy was airlifted to Northridge Hospital Medical Center and was released early Monday.
After the attack, witnesses observed the lion climb up a nearby tree, where it remained until California State Parks rangers arrived.
Rangers, in consultation with CDFW wildlife officers, determined the mountain lion was a “threat to public safety” and it was euthanized via firearm by a ranger.
Wildlife officers contacted the victim and the family at the hospital to “obtain evidence samples from the bite and scratch wounds and the victim’s clothing,” the CDFW said. Those samples were a confirmed DNA match by CDFW’s Wildlife Forensic Lab in Sacramento.
An investigation is being led by California State Parks.
An initial release by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said the child was 4 years old, but the CDFW said the child was 5.
“CDFW and State Parks officials are thankful that the family is safe, and the child is recovering and no one else was injured,” CDFW said.
