LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. — Investigators are working to uncover answers that explain a rare, deadly animal encounter in Colorado.
It was around 12:15 p.m. on Thursday when a group of hikers — including a physician — came across a mountain lion near a woman lying on the ground on the Crosier Mountain Trail near Glen Haven, said CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose.
The group threw rocks at the animal to scare it away. The physician was unable to find a pulse on the woman. They alerted first responders and CPW officers, Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputies, Estes Park police and Glen Haven Area Volunteer firefighters all rushed to the scene.
They launched a large search for mountain lions in the area and ended up finding two. Both were euthanized and will be tested during a necropsy to see if they were involved in the attack or if they had any abnormalities.
"In accordance with CPW policies, any wildlife involved in a human attack must be euthanized to ensure public safety," she said.
She explained this further in an interview with Denver7 on Friday, saying that once an animal has lost its healthy fear of humans and has taken a step to attack people, "we can't, in good conscience, leave that on the landscape. That's a threat both to humans and to other animals."
CPW biologists are now searching for a third reported mountain lion that had been spotted in the area. They "will let circumstances determine" if it is euthanized, Van Hoose said. As of publishing time, that animal had not been found.
"We have a lot of unanswered questions right now that we're hoping that the necropsy and autopsy will help us piece together, and that will be crucial because mountain lions are most active from dusk until dawn overnight," Van Hoose told Denver7 on Friday. "So, for them to be active midday on a trail in Larimer County is unusual.”
At this time, Van Hoose said it appears the two euthanized animals are either subadult or adult mountain lions. Their ages are still pending official confirmation.
The identity and age of the adult victim, along with her cause of death, will be released by the Larimer County Coroner.
Watch Denver7's latest report on this incident in the video below, which includes a dive into what is fact vs. fiction and how you can stay safe on the trails.
The woman appeared to be hiking alone.
"This is an area where mountain lions are very common, along with a lot of other wildlife — bears and moose," Van Hoose said, stressing the importance of always being aware of your surroundings.
The Associated Press reported on Friday that Gary Messina from Glen Haven had been running on the same trail a few weeks prior when he came across a mountain lion. He said he took a quick photo and then the animal lunged at him. He said he threw his phone at the predator, yelled at it and kicked dirt in its direction while it tried to circle behind him. He managed to hit it on the head with a stick before it ran off, he told the AP.
“I had to fight it off because it was basically trying to maul me,” Messina said. “I was scared for my life and I wasn’t able to escape. I tried backing up and it would try to lunge at me.”
Colorado is home to an estimated 3,800 to 4,400 mountain lions, CPW says. Larimer County and Boulder County have a high density of lions because of the habitat and deer and elk populations, Van Hoose said.
“We're not counting kittens in that number, and that's a really healthy number," said Van Hoose.
She added that CPW has responded to calls of mountain lions in the area over the past two months, but because they are reclusive animals that can travel far distances, they had not been able to find any.
“This is the time of year when lions are typically more visible to humans," she added. "They come down from higher to lower elevations, following those deer and elk herds, so they come closer to population centers and people see them more. This is when we expect to get more calls and more sightings of mountain lion activity.”
CPW has documented 28 mountain lion attacks that resulted in injury in the state since 1990. Of those, at least 11 happened in the northeast quadrant of the state, which includes Larimer County. During that same time frame, the state has seen two confirmed fatalities and one suspected fatality — a 3-year-old boy — due to a mountain lion attack. One of the confirmed human fatalities and the unconfirmed one both happened in this northeast quadrant, according to CPW.
“If you think about what Colorado looked like in 1990 with the population, and even what mountain lion numbers looked like in 1990, they both have grown over the course of those years, and really, attacks didn't grow with them. So it is pretty rare," Van Hoose explained.
Wildlife Biologist Brady Dunne has studied mountain lions for roughly 20 years. He said oftentimes, such animal encounters are sensationalized in the aftermath.
“They do not have the neurological capacity to have malicious intent. They’re not capable of it," Dunne said. “Remember, this is a fear-based subject... This is not a malicious intent animal that is out there stalking us.”
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Across North America, fewer than 20 people have died of a mountain lion attack in more than 100 years, CPW reported in 2019.
Back in February 2019, Denver7 reported on a mountain lion attack at Horsetooth Mountain in Larimer County where a 31-year-old runner was attacked by one of the animals. He was able to escape.
CPW provided the following tips on what to do if you encounter a mountain lion:
- Do not approach a lion, especially one that is feeding or with kittens. Most mountain lions will try to avoid a confrontation. Give them a way to escape.
- Stay calm when you come upon a lion. Talk calmly and firmly to it. Move slowly and never turn your back on it.
- Stop or back away slowly, if you can do it safely. Running may stimulate a lion's instinct to chase and attack. Face the lion and stand upright.
- Do all you can to appear larger. Raise your arms. Open your jacket if you're wearing one. If you have small children with you, protect them by picking them up so they won't panic and run.
- If the lion behaves aggressively, throw stones, branches or whatever you can get your hands on without crouching down or turning your back. Wave your arms slowly and speak firmly. Try to convince the lion you are not prey and that you may in fact be a danger to the lion.
- Fight back if a lion attacks you. Lions have been driven away by prey that fights back. People have fought back with rocks, sticks, caps or jackets, garden tools and their bare hands successfully. If you have trekking poles or keys, use those too. CPW recommends targeting the eye and nose as these are sensitive areas. Remain standing or try to get back up.
