Dad hurls backpack at mountain lion to save 3-year-old son, California officials say

A family hike Monday in a Southern California wilderness park turned terrifying when a mountain lion lunged at a 3-year-old boy, The Orange County Register reports.

The animal bit the child on the neck and began to drag him away in the 4:15 p.m. attack at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Lake Forest, according to KNBC.

The father of the family of six threw a backpack at the mountain lion, which let go of the boy and retreated into a tree with the backpack, KABC reported.

Orange County authorities evacuated the park, and state wildlife officers shot and killed the mountain lion about 5:30 p.m., according to KTTV. The boy was treated and released from a hospital.

Mountain biker Landon Wright encountered the family shortly after the attack, The Orange County Register reports. The mother was carrying the injured 3-year-old.

“She was pretty shaken up, but she was at least able to warn me,” Wright said, according to the publication. He continued on to investigate and spotted the mountain lion in a tree, still holding the backpack in its mouth.

There have been 17 recorded attacks on people by mountain lions in California since 1986, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife reports. Three attacks were fatal.

Two previous mountain lion attacks have taken place in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, both in January 2004, records show.

Both attacks, one fatal, involved the same mountain lion, the Los Angeles Times reported. The animal killed a 35-year-old man fixing his bicycle, then later mauled a 30-year-old woman as she passed on her bicycle.

This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 6:51 AM with the headline "Dad hurls backpack at mountain lion to save 3-year-old son, California officials say."