The boy suffered significant injuries to his head and upper torso, but he was in stable condition at a Los Angeles hospital.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on August 30, 2021. It has since been updated.
A mother's love is unconditional; she will go to any extreme to save her children from danger.
A five-year-old boy was out in his front yard in Southern California at around 10:45 a.m. on August 26, 2021, when suddenly, a 65-pound mountain lion appeared, per ABC News. The boy was dragged about 45 yards across the lawn before his mother—who was inside the house when she heard the commotion— came to his rescue, said Capt. Patrick Foy, a spokesperson with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“She ran out of the house and started punching and striking the mountain lion with her bare hands and got him off her son,” said Capt. Foy. The boy suffered significant injuries to his head and upper torso, but he was in stable condition at a Los Angeles hospital.
A 5-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion in a Calabasas neighborhood when his mother intervened to save him. https://t.co/Qg9z9tyq8e
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) August 29, 2021
The truth is, he wouldn't have made it, had it not been for his mom's sheer bravery. “The true hero of this story is his mom because she absolutely saved her son’s life,” Foy said.
A statement by the CDFW revealed that their law enforcement division "immediately began an investigation both interviewing the victim’s family in the hospital and visiting the scene of the attack," once they were informed about it.
During a protocol clearing of the family’s yard, the wildlife officer "discovered an aggressive mountain lion crouched in the corner of the property. Foy said the animal had its "ears back and hissing" when it was found hiding in the bushes.
"Due to its behavior and proximity to the attack, the warden believed it was likely the attacking lion and to protect public safety shot and killed it on site." Just 20 minutes after the mountain lion was shot, the CDFW said two more appeared near the scene of the attack. One was an adult lion fitted with a radio tracking collar, and the other appeared similar in size to the animal that snatched the child.
After confirming with the mother that the lion that attacked the child wasn't wearing a collar, the wildlife officer used a non-lethal tranquilizing rifle to capture the other non-collared lion. Samples were collected from the dead and the tranquilized lions, as well as the child. It was confirmed that the second lion had nothing to do with the attack, and so it was released a short time later. The collared lion was not captured and her collar reading showed she had since vacated the neighborhood.
References:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mountain-lion-killed-attacking-child-california-79700043
https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/mountain-lion-dispatched-after-attack-near-calabasas
Cover Image Source (Representative): Getty Images | Chase Swift
