Officials suspect that a woman hiking Thursday in the mountains near Glen Haven, Colorado, was killed by a mountain lion.
The attack occurred on Crosier Mountain trail near the Rocky Mountain National Park in an area about seven miles northeast of Estes Park, according to the New York Post.
The woman’s body was reportedly found by two other hikers who saw two mountain lions standing over her motionless form. The hikers said they threw rocks at the animals until the animals ran off, then called the authorities.
The victim’s name and details about the injuries sustained were not released.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Kara Van Hoose told the media that officials tracked down two mountain lions in the area, and they were shot and killed.
It is the first death by mountain lion attack in 25 years in the Rocky Mountain National Park.
The last documented attack occurred in 1999, when a three-year-old child was mauled to death. Two years before that, a ten-year-old boy was killed by a mountain lion while hiking with his family.
“This is a very common time of year to take mountain lion sightings and reports, and especially in Larimer County, where this is very good mountain lion habitat,” Van Hoose said. “Trails in this area are in pretty remote land, so it’s wooded, it’s rocky, there’s elevation gains and dips.”
Mountain lions, also called cougars, can grow to six feet in length and can weigh up to 130 pounds. Their chief diet is deer meat. Colorado is estimated to have more than 4,000 of the animals.
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