Colorado mom rescues son from mountain lion attack
ASPEN, Colo. -- A Colorado mother fought off a mountain lion that attacked her 5-year-old son on Friday night, CBS Denver station KCNC reported.
The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office said Saturday the boy's mother heard screaming while the boy was playing outside in the front yard with his older brother. The woman ran outside, where she saw the animal on top of her son, and dragged the boy away.
The sheriff's office said the boy suffered face, head and neck injuries and was in fair condition at a hospital in Denver. The mother was treated and released from a hospital.
Pitkin County sheriff's deputies and a Forest Service Ranger were the first to arrive and killed the lion believed to be responsible for the attack after they found it wandering near the home. According to wildlife officials, the lion was two years old and had been seen previously in the area where the attack occurred.
Officers with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the federal wildlife authorities tracked a second lion and killed it at approximately 1:30 a.m. Saturday, authorities told KCNC.
"Our number one priority is human safety at all times," Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Mike Porras said.
A necropsy will be performed on the lion suspected in the attack.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said the last known lion attack on a human in Colorado occurred in July 2015. A young lion attacked a man as he fished north of Dotsero, about 60 miles from where Friday night's attack occurred. The man had scratches and bites on his back and was treated and released from a local clinic.
The lion in that incident, described as a small, yearling male, was tracked and killed.