Mountain lion attack results in first fatality in 20 years

A MOUNTAIN lion has killed a young man and badly injured his brother in the wilderness of northern California in what is believed to be the first fatality in the state for 20 years.

The brothers were attacked by the big cat in a remote part of El Dorado County, near Sacramento. They were walking through hilly, wooded countryside dotted with private homes and ranches.

The mountain lion killed the older brother, 21, and inflicted serious injuries on his brother, 18, who managed to escape and raise the alarm. Neither of the men have been named. When officers arrived at the scene, they found the mountain lion, which is a type of cougar, crouched over the body of the dead man.

The attack took place on Saturday afternoon. The big cat was shot dead by officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Police said in a statement: “At 1.13 pm, the El Dorado County Sheriff ’s Office received a call indicating two people had been attacked by a mountain lion. Unfortunately, there is one individual who was mortally wounded. The other was taken to a local area hospital for treatment.”

Police radio exchanges, which were monitored by The Sacramento Bee, a local newspaper, revealed that the younger brother had been bitten in the face by the mountain lion and was “pretty cut up”.

The body of the cougar has been sent to a laboratory to determine its state of health. Mountain lions that are old, injured or ill may be more prone to attacking humans. Attacks on humans are highly unusual. The last fatality in California was in 2004 in Orange County when a cyclist, 35, was attacked while fixing a bike chain.

There have been around 20 attacks by mountain lions in California since the mid-1980s but only three were fatal.

Josh Rosenau, of the Mountain Lion Foundation, said: “Mountain lions are basically scaredy cats. If you make yourself look big and scary, they will almost always turn and run.”

There are believed to be about 4,500 cougars in California, he said. Hunting the species is banned in the state.