Mountain lion attacks child in unincorporated area of Peninsula near Tunitas
SAN MATEO COUNTY -- A child was attacked by a mountain lion in unincorporated San Mateo County, the Sheriff's Department announced on Tuesday.
Deputies were dispatched to the 1000 block of Tunitas Creek Road near the unincorporated community of Tunitas on the report of a mountain lion attack.
@SMCSheriff was dispatched to a report of a mountain lion attack and we can confirm a child was transported to a local trauma center after the attack. Incident occurred on the 1000 blk of Tunitas Creek Rd. in unincorporated SMC. @CaliforniaDFW actively investigating the incident
— San Mateo County S.O (@SMCSheriff) February 1, 2023
The child's condition was not immediately known and no other details have been released.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is actively investigating the incident.
"Our coastal community has endured so much these past few weeks," said San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus. "Our entire agency is saddened of this news and sends many warm wishes to the child for a speedy and full recovery. Our thoughts are with the family at this time."
Mountain lion attacks on humans are rare. Around 20 confirmed attacks have occurred in California in more than a century of record-keeping, according to CDFW.
Last September, a 7-year-old boy was bitten by a mountain lion while walking with his father around dusk in a park near Santa Clarita in Southern California. The father scared the animal away and the child was treated for relatively minor wounds.
Over the last year, mountain lion sightings have been on the rise across the Bay Area.
A mountain lion cub wandered into an empty classroom at Pescadero High School along the Peninsula in June. After several hours, CDFW personnel were able to safely remove the cub from the classroom.
Mountain lions have also been caught lurking in the shadows on security cameras in Millbrae. A handful of residents in the Oakland hills and Piedmont say they've seen mutilated deer carcasses in their neighborhoods. One wildcat was even caught in a tree in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood and transported to the Oakland Zoo while another broke into a San Bruno home filled with game trophies.
More than half of the state is mountain lion territory, and it's not too unusual to see them popping up, according to CDFW officials.
This is a breaking news update. More information to be added as available.