'Hero' Mom punches lion with bare hands to save her 5-year-old son's life
'Hero' Mom punches lion with bare hands to save her 5-year-old son's life
CALIFORNIA (Web Desk) – A California woman has been called “a hero” by state officials after she repeatedly punched a mountain lion with her bare hands to save her 5-year-old son’s life from its clutches.
US Today reported that the boy was playing by a tree near his home in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles, when a 65-pound mountain lion attacked him, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Department spokesman Patrick Foy told the Associated Press the mountain lion “dragged him about 45 yards" before his mother, came to the rescue.
"She ran out of the house and started punching and striking the mountain lion with her bare hands and got him off her son," Foy said. "The true hero of this story is his mom because she absolutely saved her son’s life." The lion might’ve killed the boy if not for his mother’s keen ear.
She heard the commotion and came charging out of the house to confront the wild cat, Foy said. The woman immediately started “punching and striking the mountain lion with her bare hands and got him off her son,” he said.
The boy’s parents rushed him to hospital, where he was treated for severe injuries to his head and torso. They also informed authorities about the attack.
A wildlife officer immediately went to the home and found the mountain lion crouching in some bushes outside, Foy said.
“Due to its behaviour and proximity to the attack, the warden believed it was likely the attacking lion and to protect public safety shot and killed it on sight,” the wildlife department said in a statement.
DNA testing later confirmed that it was the same mountain lion.
Two other mountain lions were also found in the area, wildlife officials said. Authorities tranquillized and collared one before releasing it into the wild. The other was not captured because it had a collar, and the mother said the attacking cat did not. Wildlife officials have tagged roughly 100 mountain lions with GPS collars in the Los Angeles area, according to the National Parks Service (NPS). The cats “are solitary, elusive animals and sightings are extremely rare” because they prefer to avoid humans, the NPS says.
