2/21/2020 Update:
Wildlife officials captured a mountain lion they believe attacked a young girl. DNA testing confirmed the animal is the same involved in the incident so it was euthanized.
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A mountain lion jumped out of the brush and attacked a six-year-old girl on a walk with two adults about 10 miles west of San Jose, California.
“It came out of the bushes, and right about when it grabbed a hold of the girl, an adult pushed the mountain lion and it ran off,” Brad Pennington, MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District ranger, told KABC-TV. “Right now she has minor injuries. A couple puncture wounds to her calf. She was also treated for minor first aid and then her parents took her to the hospital,”
Wardens with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife hope to find, capture and identify the mountain lion. If that happens, there is no word what they will do with the animal.
Hunting is a key tool used by wildlife managers across the country, but it is not allowed to help control California’s mountain lion population estimated to be between 4,000 and 6,000. Voters passed a state initiative in 1990 outlawing the hunting of mountain lions.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation strongly believes in the state management of all wildlife.
(Photo source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife)