Woman in Colorado killed in suspected mountain lion attack

Jan. 2 (UPI) — A woman in Colorado has died after a suspected mountain lion attack Thursday, officials said.

The woman’s identity hasn’t been released, but she is believed to have been hiking alone on the Crosier Mountain trail in Larimer County in northern Colorado.

“There were signs that this was consistent with a mountain lion attack but we can’t say for sure,” Kara Van Hoose, spokesperson with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told reporters Thursday.

At about 12:15 p.m. MST, hikers reported they saw a mountain lion near a person lying on the ground about 100 yards away, according to a press release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. They walked toward the scene and threw rocks to scare the lion away. They then tried to help the woman, but found no pulse.

Several agencies launched a search for mountain lions in the area. They found a lion at the scene and shot at it. Soon after, they euthanized it. They found another lion in the area and euthanized it, too. CPW policy says that wildlife in attacks on humans must be euthanized.

Officials aren’t sure if there was more than one animal involved in the suspected attack.

Pathologists will do necropsies on the animals to check for diseases such as rabies or bird flu. They will also check for human DNA to determine if they attacked a person. The Larimer County Coroner will identify the victim and cause of death, the release said.

Mountain lion attacks in Colorado are rare. There have been 28 attacks since 1990, and the last fatal attack was in 1999.

“This is an area where mountain lions are really common, along with a lot of other wildlife like bears and moose,” Van Hoose said. “Because mountain lions are really common in this area, we do expect to have conflicts with regular things like sightings or encounters with dogs.”

CPW said that hikers in the area should expect to see wildlife and that mountain lions are more visible in the winter because they follow deer and elk to lower elevations. If you see lions, make noise to scare them from the area, hold objects overhead to appear bigger and start backing away from the animal, CPW said. Pets should be kept on-leash and not be allowed to interact with wildlife.

Colorado has about 3,800 to 4,000 mountain lions, also known as cougars or pumas, with populations growing since hunting regulations began in 1965, CPW’s website said.