Colorado Mother Fights Off Mountain Lion To Save Her Son

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) -Authorities say a Colorado woman saved her 5-year-old son’s life by prying his head from a mountain lion’s mouth after the animal attacked the boy in their front yard.

“She was able to pry the cat’s jaws open”, Deputy Michael Buglione told The Aspen Times.

The mountain lion was estimated to be about 2 years old and was not fully grown.

She mother ran outside when she heard screaming; the boy’s face, head and neck were injured.

Mountain lions can weigh up to 100 kg.

“She said the mountain lion was on top of her son, crouched down on top of him”, Buglione said.

Deputy Buglione said the boy’s mother then saw the lion had her son’s head in its mouth, so she put her right hand in the big cats mouth to pry the boy free from the animals jaws. He was transferred from Aspen to a hospital in Denver. A young lion attacked a man as he fished north of Dotsero, about 60 miles from where Friday’s attack occurred. His mother was treated for injuries to her hands and legs and released. The man had scratches and bites on his back and was treated and released from a local clinic.

The boy had been playing with his brother outside his home in the Colorado mountains on Friday evening when the cat pounced, according to reports.

Parks and Wildlife officials are still investigating the incident, and a necropsy will be performed on the lions suspected in the attack to see if they were involved.

Several hours later, authorities said they killed a young mountain lion found near the home as well as a second mountain lion nearby. Pitkin County Sheriff’s deputies and a Forest Service Ranger arrived on the scene first and killed a lion believed to be responsible for the attack. The Chicago Tribune reported that the other male mountain lion has also been tracked down and killed.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said the last known lion attack on a human in Colorado occurred in July 2015.

“If that animal engages, not just a lion, but a bear, you want to fight”, said Matt Robbins with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

There have been three fatal mountain lion attacks in the Centennial State since 1991.

According to a spokesperson from the hospital, the mother has been released while the son was transported to a children’s hospital in Denver, Colorado. The boy was listed in fair condition at Children’s Hospital of Colorado.