A tragic incident unfolded in Larimer County, Colorado, where a woman was discovered deceased on a hiking trail, believed to be the victim of a mountain lion attack. If investigations confirm this, it would mark the first fatal mountain lion encounter in the state in nearly three decades.
According to Kara Van Hoose, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, hikers on the Crosier Mountain Trail, located south of Glen Haven, reported seeing a woman lying on the ground with a mountain lion nearby around 12:15 p.m. They were approximately 100 yards away and, upon approaching, began throwing rocks to scare the animal away. However, they soon found the woman unresponsive.
Emergency responders, including wildlife officers and search dogs, were dispatched to the scene, where two mountain lions were located and subsequently euthanized. The connection between these animals and the attack remains unconfirmed.
Van Hoose noted, “While there were indications consistent with a mountain lion attack, we cannot definitively say what transpired.” It is standard policy for Colorado Parks and Wildlife to euthanize any wild animal linked to a human attack, and mountain lions are prevalent in the area.
This incident is not isolated; a local trail runner, Gary Messina, recently experienced a frightening encounter with a mountain lion on the same trail. He described the fear he felt when the lion approached him during his run, stating, “It frightened me to my core. I have a lot of respect for these animals, but encountering one like that can be terrifying.”
Messina recounted how he initially mistook the mountain lion for a smaller animal before realizing the danger it posed. After a tense standoff, he managed to fend off the lion with a stick and slowly backed away, throwing objects to keep the animal at bay.
In light of the recent fatality, Messina expressed his sorrow for the victim’s family, saying, “My heart breaks for the family and for the hiker who had to be the unfortunate victim.”
Following the incident, pathologists will conduct necropsies on the euthanized mountain lions to check for diseases or abnormalities, including testing for human DNA to confirm their involvement in the attack.
Since 1990, there have been only 28 reported mountain lion attacks on humans in Colorado, with the last fatal attack occurring in the late 1990s in Larimer County, involving a 3-year-old boy who disappeared during a church group hike.
