When Man Becomes Prey by Cat Urbigkit

Author:Cat Urbigkit
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493015481
Publisher: Lyons Press

Attacks across the Continent

Of the more than forty mountain lion attacks on humans in North America cited by Daryll Herbert and Dan Lay in a 1997 paper titled “Cougar–Human Interactions in British Columbia,” about half occurred in British Columbia, and, more specifically, on Vancouver Island. It is likely that hunting of mountain lions has helped to significantly reduce interactions between mountain lions and people, but restrictive mountain lion hunting regulations, combined with increasing mountain lion populations and increases in prey populations, have resulted in an increase in attacks on humans in these areas. In addition, many areas and parks set aside for human recreational use around the country restrict or prohibit hunting.

There have been numerous attacks over the years involving mountain lions pouncing on adult humans, and they occur across the country and in a variety of situations. In 2001, a thirty-year-old ballet dancer was killed while cross-country skiing in Banff National Park. The mountain lion had hidden behind a tree, and when the woman passed by, the lion leapt upon her back, killing her. A wildlife warden killed the large male mountain lion as it fed on her body. This appeared to be a predatory attack—but it was one of three incidents involving at least two different mountain lions in the Banff area that day. Earlier that morning, a pet dog was mauled by a mountain lion while in its backyard, but the pet owner was able to scare the lion away and the pet survived the attack. A few hours later, another woman walking her dog was stalked by a mountain lion. A neighbor heard her screams for help and opened his door to the woman, allowing her to escape. Officials expressed confidence that the mountain lion involved in the pet attack, and in the stalking of the second woman, was not the same animal that killed the woman earlier in the day. Banff National Park is closed to the hunting of wild predators (or other animals), and wildlife is accustomed to human presence. Prey species such as elk move into residential areas to graze, and the wild predators follow.

While out for a run in a state recreational area east of Sacramento, California, in April 1994, forty-year-old Barbara Schoener was attacked and killed by a female mountain lion. Evidence indicated the lion attacked the woman from a ledge, and that she fought back before being killed. The female lion fed on her body and buried it in debris before bringing her cub to the site to feed again. About a week after Schoener’s remains were discovered, the female mountain lion was killed just feet from the attack site, and her cub was captured and placed in a zoo.

In December 1994, a 130-pound male mountain lion killed fifty-eight-year-old high school teacher and bird-watcher Iris Kenna in California’s Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, about 50 miles from San Diego. It appeared the woman had survived the initial attack, but the cat caught her from behind and killed her. The lion was shot in the area the same day.

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