A mountain lion attacked a woman who was running with her friend Sunday morning in Utah’s Mill Creek Canyon, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The runners encountered the mountain lion at 8:30 a.m. after rounding a corner on the Pipeline Trail, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. The animal reportedly leaped at and clawed the woman closest to it. (RELATED: REPORT: Mountain Lion Stalks Little Kids, Dog Sacrifices Its Life While Family Watches From Inside)
Utah wildlife officers looking for mountain lion that attacked trail runner https://t.co/mGUPKD2S9F
— FOX 13 News Utah (@fox13) September 25, 2022
The woman fell to the ground and sustained two puncture wounds in her right leg, according to Faith Jolley, a spokesperson for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources cited by The Salt Lake Tribune. The other runner reportedly used a rock to hit the cougar and the two escaped and called 911.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources euthanized the cougar after finding it Sunday evening, due to the fact that it had harmed a human, KSL reported. It’s “pretty rare” for cougars to attack humans, Jolley told The Salt Lake Tribune. Biologists suggested the runners may have startled the mountain lion when they came around the corner, the outlet noted.
“Just as a precaution. Whenever we do have wildlife that does injure a person, that’s part of our policy, we do have to euthanize,” Jolley said, according to KSL. “In this situation, we want to so we can see if it potentially has rabies or anything like that.”