A Colorado boy attacked by a mountain lion near Aspen was improving in a Denver hospital after his mother snatched him from the jaws of the wild cat, his family said Monday.
(FOX)- “Thank you for your concern,” the unnamed family said in a brief statement released on its behalf by Children’s Hospital Colorado. “Our son is doing better. Thank you for respecting our privacy at this time.”
A Pitkin County sheriff’s officer had praised the mother as a hero for charging the animal during Friday’s attack on her 5-year-old, yanking away one of its paws and prying open its jaws. The boy was flown to Denver with deep but not life-threatening cuts to his head, face and neck. His mother had scratches and bites.
Mountain lions rarely attack humans.
The attack was the most serious of several human-wildlife encounters in recent days in Colorado that have wildlife authorities pointing out that man, who is increasingly treading into untamed habitats, can take steps to ensure the safety of all species.
Wildlife officials killed two mountain lions in the area after Aspen attack, saying both were young animals that may have suffered the early loss of an adult cat that could have taught them to avoid humans.
In the Denver area the same day, a bear spotted near a high school was tranquilized and then euthanized. A day earlier, another bear that wandered through a residential neighborhood and climbed a tree also was killed. Both bears had been moved on earlier occasions from residential neighborhoods, said Jennifer Churchill, a spokeswoman for the Colorado wildlife department. She said it has been the department’s practice for several years to kill bears that have been moved once before because they are believed to have become dangerously acclimated to humans.