Mountain lion euthanized following Malibu attack on 5-year-old at family picnic

A mountain lion that attacked a 5-year-old boy Sunday at Malibu Creek State Park near Los Angeles has been euthanized, California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed. 

Park rangers and Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies responded to the park area around 4:20 p.m. local time Sunday when a family called for help as a mountain lion attacked their child during a picnic, Fish and Wildlife said in a statement.   

Children in the group were playing near the family's picnic table when the mountain lion grabbed the boy by the head and started to run away with him. 

Adults charged the lion, causing it to release the boy. It then climbed up a nearby tree, Fish and Wildlife reported. 

The lion remained in the tree until park rangers arrived. After consulting with CDFW officers, the lion was deemed a public safety threat, and a ranger shot the lion.  

The boy was airlifted to Northridge Hospital Medical Center in L.A. for treatment of his injuries and was released early Monday morning. He suffered significant but non-life-threatening injuries, CDFW said.  

Prior to this week, there have been two dozen documented mountain lion attacks in California dating back to 1986, according to CDFW. Of those, four were fatal.

The latest fatal attack occurred in March, when a 21-year-old man was killed and his 18-year-old brother injured by a mountain lion in a rural part of El Dorado County in Northern California. That mountain lion was also captured and euthanized.