A minor was taken to a trauma center Tuesday after being attacked by a mountain lion in rural California, state authorities said.
The attack was reported shortly before 7 p.m. on Tunitas Creek Road in unincorporated San Mateo County, the Sheriff’s Department said on its Twitter account.
The area lies south of Half Moon Bay.
The boy was conscious while being taken to the hospital, but there were no immediate updates on the infant’s condition.
For its part, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating the animal attack, CBS News reported.
Attacks by mountain lions on humans are very rare. In more than a century of record-keeping, 20 attacks have been confirmed in California, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In September 2022, a seven-year-old boy was bitten by a mountain lion while walking with his father at night in a park near Santa Clarita in southern California. The father was able to scare the animal away and the juvenile was treated for relatively minor injuries.
In the past year, cougar sightings have increased in the Bay Area, CBS San Francisco said.
Meanwhile, a mountain lion cub walked into an empty classroom at Pescadero High School in June. After a few hours, Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel were able to safely capture the pup.
Mountain lions have been filmed lurking in the shadows on security cameras in Millbrae. Some residents of the Oakland and Piedmont foothills said they have seen mutilated deer carcasses in their neighborhoods.
Likewise, a cougar was trapped in a tree in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco and was transferred to the Oakland Zoo, while another would have broken into a house in San Bruno.
In this sense, a southern California mountain lion studied by the National Park Service lost its life after being hit by a vehicle this January on Pacific Coast Hightway in Malibu, authorities said.
The radio-collared puma known as P-81 was found dead on the trail near Point Mugu on January 22, the parks service reported on Twitter.
The park service revealed that at least 34 cougars have been struck and killed since 2002 within its study area, which includes the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills and Verdugo Mountains.
Biologists are studying how cats live in a habitat divided by urban sprawl, barriers that limit genetic diversity, and hazards ranging from poisons to roads and highways.
The death of P-81 occurred after a month in which the famous cougar P-22 who lived for many years in the great park of Los Angeles, who was euthanized after examinations revealed a worsening of health and injuries likely causes by a vehicle.
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