List of fatal cougar attacks in North America

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This is a list of known or suspected fatal cougar attacks that occurred in North America by decade in chronological order. The cougar is also commonly known as mountain lion, puma, mountain cat, catamount, or panther. The sub-population in Florida is known as the Florida panther.

Contents

Over 130 attacks have been documented in [1] North America in the past 100 years, with 28 attacks resulting in fatalities. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings. [2] [3] [4] Children are particularly vulnerable. The majority of the child victims listed here were not accompanied by adults.

As with many predators, a cougar may attack if cornered, if a fleeing human stimulates their instinct to chase, or if a person "plays dead." Standing still however may cause the cougar to consider a person easy prey. [5] Exaggerating the threat to the animal through intense eye contact, loud shouting, and any other action to appear larger and more menacing, may make the animal retreat.

Humans are capable of fending off cougars, as adult humans are generally larger. It is even possible for humans to win a fight against a cougar, such as the case of Travis Kauffman, who choked a juvenile cougar to death when attacked while jogging. [6] Fighting back with sticks and rocks, or even bare hands, is often effective in persuading an attacking cougar to disengage. [7] [8] In 2024, four women engaged "hand-to-hand combat" for 45 minutes with a cougar that had attacked and bitten their friend through the face; during the engagement the women pinned the cougar down with one of their bikes, and "at one point the cougar even lifted the bike with the women standing on it." A wildlife officer who was summoned to the scene ultimately dispatched the cougar by gunshot. [9]

Before 1970

Name, ageDateLocation, comments
(Unnamed Child), 3August 21, 1868"Killed by a Cougar.— The Oregon Harold of August 24th contains the following: On the 21st instant, a little child three years old, of Mr. Patton, living on Rear Creek, three miles west of the Long Tom, in Lane county, was killed by a cougar. The child was playing in the yard and within, ten feet of the door of the dwelling, when the cougar sprang upon it from the bushes which grew near the house. The mother seeing the beast drag her child towards the timber, seized a stick and started in pursuit. She attacked the cougar with such resolution that it dropped its burden, and the heroic woman taking the lifeless body under one arm and her only remaining child under the other, made her way to a neighbor's house, a mile and a half distant. Mr. Patton was absent from home at the time." [10] Lane County, Oregon
Arthur Dangle, 7June 19, 1890Killed and eaten by two cougars while playing near his home in Quartz Valley, Siskiyou County, California
Frank Cook, age unknownNovember 11, 1901Attacked by a cougar east of the Santa Caterina Landing in Baja California. [11]
A. C. Marklein, age unknownMarch 1, 1904Killed by a cougar in Bushy Cane Creek Magoffin County, Kentucky. A. C. Marklein and a friend named McCarty both from New York state were attacked. A. C. Marklein received fatal injuries while McCarty was attacked, but survived. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
Child Brown, 2 or 14

*NOTE: Probable false report

January 31, 1909Killed by a cougar near Balboa, California. The boy was attacked while in a tent. News stories variously reported his age as 2 and 14. It was reported in a local paper the following day that the story was a hoax. The paper confirmed the local coroner never received a report of a child suffering a violent death in this manner. [18] [19]
Isola Kennedy, 38; Earl Wilson, 10July 5, 1909Rabid cougar attacked a woman and child in Morgan Hill in Santa Clara County, California. Both victims died from rabies, not from the physical injuries. This is the only instance of a double fatality and the only instance where the victims succumbed to disease rather than the injuries sustained in the attack. [20]
Child, 3August 21, 1911Killed by a pet cougar inside his family home near Beaumont, Texas.
Jimmie Fehlhaber, 13December 17, 1924Attacked and killed at Olema, Washington as he tried to outrun a cougar for about 100 yards (91 m) [21]
Dominic Taylor, 7June 1949Killed and eaten while walking on a beach in Kyuquot, British Columbia [22]
Woman, unknown age1951Killed in Tampico, Mexico. [23]
Elena Salzar, 5June 1953Attacked, dragged off, and eaten in Tampico, Mexico [23]

1970s

Name, ageDateLocation, comments
Lawrence Wells, 12January 1971Attacked and killed in Lytton, British Columbia by male cougar while Wells was playing with his sisters
Kenneth Clark Nolan, 9January 20, 1974Killed by a 3-year-old female cougar in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico
Matilda Mae Samuel, 7July 1976Killed by cougar near Gold River, British Columbia, while walking on a road. [24]

1980s

Name, ageDateLocation, comments
Jesse Sky Bergman, 9May 16, 1988Stalked and killed by a four-year-old male cougar at Catface Mountain in British Columbia near Tofino.
Jake Thomas Gardipee, 5September 9, 1989Attacked and killed by a cougar while playing behind his home in Missoula County, Montana near Evaro. The cougar was later killed, and a necropsy was performed at the Montana State University veterinary lab, establishing the cougar's role in the child's death.

1990s

Name, ageDateLocation, comments
Scott Lancaster, 18January 14, 1991Killed and eaten while jogging a familiar route on a hill above Clear Creek High School in Idaho Springs, Colorado. [25]
Jeremy Williams, 7May 5, 1992Attacked and killed in Kyuquot, British Columbia by a young female cougar while playing in the school yard. [26]
Barbara Barsalou Schoener, 40April 23, 1994Long distance runner and Placerville resident was attacked and killed while jogging on the American River Canyon Trail in California's Auburn State Recreation Area. [27] [28]
Iris M. Kenna, 56December 10, 1994Killed while hiking alone near Cuyamaca Peak in California's Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. [28] [29]
Cindy Parolin, 36August 19, 1996Mother killed while defending her 6-year-old son on a horseback riding trip in Tulameen, British Columbia. [30]
Mark Miedema, 10July 17, 1997Killed by an adult female cougar in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park while hiking when he got ahead of his family. [31]
Jaryd Atadero, 3October 2, 1999Went missing during a religious hiking trip in the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado, partial remains discovered in 2003.

NOTE: this case is highly contentious and experts vary in opinion as to whether or not this was an official cougar attack.

2000s

Name, ageDateLocation, comments
Frances Frost, 30January 2, 2001This Canmore, Alberta resident was killed by a cougar while skiing on Cascade Fire Road near Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, Alberta [32]
Mark Jeffrey Reynolds, 35January 8, 2004Attacked, killed and partially devoured while mountain biking at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in southern Orange County, California. It is believed his chain fell off and the cougar attacked when he bent down to repair his bicycle. His family Terri, Gary and Dona started the Mark J. Reynolds Memorial "Children's First Bike Fund" which provides bicycles and helmets to underprivileged children. [28] [33]
Robert Nawojski, 55June 24, 2008Searchers found his partially devoured body on this date near his mobile home in Pinos Altos, New Mexico. Investigators concluded that he had been attacked, killed and eaten by a cougar several days earlier. [34] [35] [36]

2010s

Name, ageDateLocation, comments
S.J. Brooks, 32 [37] May 19, 2018Killed by a cougar near North Bend, Washington, while biking in the foothills near North Bend. Another bicyclist was injured, and the cougar was found and killed later that day. [38] [39]
Diana Bober, 55September 11, 2018Killed by a cougar in Mount Hood National Forest on the Hunchback Mountain Trail. The first in Oregon’s recorded history. [40]

2020s

Name, ageDateLocation, comments
Taylen Robert Claude Brooks, 21 [41] March 23, 2024A cougar jumped and killed a 21-year-old who, in company with his 18-year-old brother, was out looking for shed ungulate antlers in a forested area near Georgetown, El Dorado County, California. The brother was also injured during the attack.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Cougar | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife". wdfw.wa.gov. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Citation for claim about lightning strikes".
  3. ↑ "Citation for claim about snake bites".
  4. ↑ "Citation for claim about bees and wasps". MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 68 (29): 649. 2019. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6829a5. PMC   6660102 . PMID   31344022.
  5. ↑ Subramanian, Sushma (April 14, 2009). "Should You Run or Freeze When You See a Mountain Lion?". Scientific American. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Remember the Fort Collins trail runner who killed an attacking mountain lion? Here's what his life has been like since". 18 July 2019.
  7. ↑ McKee, Denise (2003). "Cougar Attacks on Humans: A Case Report". Wilderness and Environmental Medicine. 14 (3). Wilderness Medical Society: 169–73. doi: 10.1580/1080-6032(2003)14[169:CAOHAC]2.0.CO;2 . PMID   14518628.
  8. ↑ "Safety Guide to Cougars". Environmental Stewardship Division. Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Environment. 1991. Archived from the original on August 23, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
  9. ↑ Wanshel, Elyse (2024-03-18). "Cyclist Tackled Off Bike And Mauled In The Face By Cougar Saved By 'Heroic' Friends". HuffPost. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  10. ↑ "Idaho Semi-Weekly World. (Idaho City, Boise County, [Idaho Territory], Image 1)". September 2, 1868. Retrieved December 12, 2020– via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
  11. ↑ "The Salt Lake herald. (Salt Lake City [Utah) 1870-1909, November 12, 1901, Image 1". November 12, 1901. Retrieved April 22, 2017– via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
  12. ↑ "The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, March 02, 1904, Image 2". The Indianapolis Journal. March 2, 1904. p. 2. ISSN   2332-0974 . Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, March 01, 1904, Image 2". March 1, 1904 – via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
  14. ↑ "The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1892-1980, March 01, 1904, LAST EDITION, Image 5". March 1, 1904. p. 5 – via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
  15. ↑ "The commoner. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, March 11, 1904, Image 7". March 11, 1904. p. 7 – via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
  16. ↑ Humanities, National Endowment for the (March 23, 1904). "Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, March 23, 1904, Image 3". Der Deutsche Correspondent. ISSN   2372-2894 . Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Semi-weekly interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1881-1905, March 04, 1904, Image 4". Semi-Weekly Interior Journal. March 4, 1904. ISSN   1941-3009 . Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  18. ↑ "The Deseret News - Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Aspen Democrat February 2, 1909 — Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection" . Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  20. ↑ Cheek, Martin (November 10, 2006). "Local Heroine Isola Kennedy Sacrificed Life". The Morgan Hill Times. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  21. ↑ Lowe, Cara Blessley (November 30, 2008). Listening to Cougar. University of Colorado Press. p. 177. ISBN   9781607320364.
  22. ↑ "Cougar Trapped, Slain After Killing Boy, 7". The Reading Eagle . June 21, 1949. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  23. 1 2 "Mountain Lion Kills Girl On Mexico Ranch". The Deseret News . June 20, 1953. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Ottawa Citizen - Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Jogger Apparently Killed By A Cougar". St. Petersburg Times. January 18, 1991. Retrieved August 15, 2010.[ dead link ]
  26. ↑ Deurbrouck, Jo (2007). Stalked by a Mountain Lion: Fear, Fact, and the Uncertain Future of Cougars in America. Globe Pequot. p. 171. ISBN   978-0-7627-4315-5.
  27. ↑ Raia, James (April 27, 2004). "Athletics: Death by Cougar - Remembering Barbara Schoener". RunnersWeb.com. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
  28. 1 2 3 California Department of Fish and Wildlife Nongame Program (2013). "Verified Mountain Lion Attacks on Humans in California (1986 through 2013)". Mountain Lions in California. Sacramento, California: California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  29. ↑ Deegan, Joe (September 9, 2004). "Mountain Lion Hype". San Diego Reader. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  30. ↑ Zaidle, Don (September 18, 2007). "Killer Cougars". Outdoor Life .
  31. ↑ "Mountain Lion Kills Boy Hiking in Colorado Park". New York Times . July 19, 1997. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  32. ↑ "There are cougars around: Attack a stark reminder for Alberta family". CBC.ca. May 27, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  33. ↑ "Man killed by mountain lion; cyclists also attacked in California". Associated Press. January 11, 2004. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
  34. ↑ Search continues for mountain lion that killed Pinos Altos man Archived June 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, press release June 23, 2008
  35. ↑ Wounded mountain lion captured, killed near Pinos Altos Archived June 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, press release June 25, 2008
  36. ↑ Second mountain lion captured near Pinos Altos Archived June 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, press release July 1, 2008
  37. ↑ "Cyclist who died in Seattle cougar attack remembered in Montreal as pioneer for inclusive biking" . Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  38. ↑ Stevens, Matt (20 May 2018). "Cougar Attacks Two Bicyclists in Washington State, Killing One". New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  39. ↑ "Former-Topekan-SJ-Brooks-killed-by-cougar-in-Seattle-area". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  40. ↑ "Cougar apparently killed Oregon woman missing for nearly 2 weeks, investigators say". Fox News. 11 September 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  41. ↑ Ayestas, Jonathan. "Brothers identified after El Dorado County mountain lion attack that left 1 dead, the other injured". KCRA 3 .

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