Table of ContentsIntroduction / Lion Facts / Lion StatisticsHow to Survive and Encounter with a Mountain Lion (DOs and DON'Ts) Confirmed Attacks: (*1890-1990) - (1991-2000) - (**2001-Now) Further Cougar Attacks (Hunters, Non-injury, Unconfirmed, etc.) Lion Defense Cartoons / More Cartoons / Still More Comments from You and Others Complementary Links / Research and Tables E-mail Linda Lewis *Time span for researcher Paul Beier's study **Includes the Cox case "coverup" in Arkansas |  |
When I discovered to my dismay that I had moved into territory where lions were recently seen, though they had been absent for generations, I began searching the internet for information. Everywhere I found platitudes such as cougars will never attack unless cornered or unless protecting their young; they fear all humans and avoid them. I had heard just enough reports to the contrary to keep searching. Introduction
Then I found Tom Chester's site. An avid hiker, Tom began a site giving accounts of mountain lion attacks in North America. It was a shock to him to have the abstract go to the concrete so quickly when he learned a lady killed in California in 1994 was a friend of his sister. I found that Tom's site was informative to those concerned, but not alarmist. This inspired me to contact Tom and relate an incident in Colorado and then to make my own collection of sometimes more expanded attack accounts as a way of continuing to make contributions to Tom's collection of reports.
I agree with Tom that there are more frequent causes of violent human deaths than deaths from any wild predators. Never-the-less, in some location and under certain situations, the lion threat is real and is increasing with fairly recent (the last 30+ years) protective policies towards predators and many other wild creatures. As a result of recent policies, lions have begun showing up even in areas developed 50 years ago and where lions had not been seen for at least that long. Management policies (which are experimental by virtue of their recent implementation and which don't always anticipate interactions between humans, other predators, or other wildlife species) have also been responsible for increases in lion and other wildlife populations.
Whether you believe the risk from predators is miniscule or is an increasing one to be watched, keep in mind that, however statistically unlikely, risk of death from such as bee stings, spider bites, lightening strikes, and lion attacks are still additive. When you welcome the sight of a magnificent predator into your neighborhood, realize that the risk is far greater for children than for the adults making policies.
Population Increases: Once thought to be endangered, even extinct in many areas, mountain lions have made a strong comeback throughout the United States and Canada after bountied hunting was banned in the 1960's. As a result of additional policies to protect and manage lion populations, increases in the numbers of these predators have resulted in more damage complaints and human encounters. A recent estimate by wildlife ecologists puts lion numbers at more than 31,000 in 12 Western states. This number may be more mountain lions in the West than there were before European settlement according to Maurice Hornocker, a senior scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society. States such as California estimate lion populations which were as low as 600 are now closer to 6,000. Though scientific studies are difficult and expensive, Oregon is another state with similar estimates (about 5,000 currently). Recently, the presence of mountain lions has been confirmed in Manitoba, Canada. My e-mails report sightings in regions where they were considered extinct, including Nebraska, Minnesota, New York, Indiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ontario. I have read of recent sightings in Kansas where I grew up without a thought of mountain lion presence. Read an excellent recent (03/22/2004) article from The Boston Globe confirming what e-mailers have been reporting to me for several years: Cougar migration generates Mass. interest" Sources: (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Mountain Lion Brochure; 02/2000) (The News-Review; Emotions run high in cougar hunting debate; 03/08/2001; Jeff Willis) (e-mail from Peggy Martinook; the Riding Mountain National Park, Communication and Visitor Services; 11/18/2002) (Deer Draw Cougars Ever Eastward; Blaine Harden; The New York Times; 12/08/2002) (The Boston Globe; Cougar migration generates Mass. interest; by Vicki Croke, Globe Correspondent; 03/22/2004)
Habitat: Absent the threat from man, lions are very successful predators that can thrive in many environments. In North America, as a rule, you can suspect lions will follow their favorite meal -- deer. In order to succeed with an attack that relies on sprinting or surprise, lions need cover which can be anything from clumps of weeds to forests and thick brush. Topography (particularly ledges) or branches can also hide a lion waiting to pounce. Lions can sprint approximately 40 miles per hour, leap up 15 feet in one bound, spring forward almost 45 feet, and drop silently 60 feet and land running. Lions establish territories, with a male's often about 100 square miles, a female's less than half that. These territories tend to overlap and be shared by a limited number of lions. Their density varies largely in response to availability of prey. (The highest density I have seen documented was in the Foresthill area of California in 1985 when 27 were found within 130 square miles which equals 21 per 100 square miles or 8 per 100 square kilometers.) Since they face increased danger even from other lions outside their territory, they will not easily leave it, once established. Source: (1995 DFG Outdoor California)
Diet: Though their favorite prey is deer, these opportunistic predators can feed on a wide variety of animals from grasshoppers to elk. If very hungry, they can even eat pet food or garbage. A healthy cougar, however, is drawn to hunt for live prey. They kill larger prey by jumping onto their backs and tackling them to the ground. Then they sink their teeth into the necks and throats of their quarry, often strangling them to death. (Adaptable in their methods, elk are downed by use of a claw in the snout to wrench the neck down and break it.) A cougar will kill up to one deer, elk, calf, bighorn sheep, or goat per week. In the 1990's about 200,000 deer per year were killed by lions in California alone. They feed on their kill, eating about 8 pounds of meat at a sitting, then make a cache by covering the carcass. A female with cubs will usually eat most of her kill, returning to her cache until the meat begins to spoil… then she will kill again. Males often eat little of their kill, wandering off in search of a female to mate with instead. It is not uncommon for cougars to go into a killing frenzy where many slaughtered animals are not eaten. It is widely believed that these predators only kill for food, but this is disputed by field observations. It is also widely believed that cougars will attack humans only under abnormal circumstances such as being cornered or diseased. Though we are far from their favorite prey, the cougars that attack humans are usually found to be normal animals exhibiting normal predator behavior. Sources: (1995 DFG Outdoor California) (ElkHunting.com, Predators of the Elk) (Jo Deurbrouck and Dean Miller, The University of Montana's Headwaters News, Attacks not surprising where cougars and humans mix) (Dan Bihary, Washington State Bowhunters)
Identifying Characteristics: Until 1993 their scientific name was felis concolor meaning cat of one color. (After 1993 the cougar was reclassified as puma concolor.) Absent stripes or spots (as adults) this one uniform color on their upper parts ranges in individual cats from greys to tans to yellows to reddish shades. In general, pumas that are farther away from the equator tend to be larger and more grayish or tannish in color. Pumas that are close to the equator tend to be smaller and more reddish in color. They have a paler, almost buff color on their bellies with whitish throats and chests. Cougars have pinkish noses with a black border that extends to the lips. The muzzle stripes, the area behind ears, and the tips of their tails are black. Their ears are small and rounded. Adult males may exceed 8 feet in length from nose to the end of their very long tail and weigh between 130 and 170 pounds. Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between 75 and 105 pounds. Kittens, or cubs, are covered with blackish brown spots and have dark rings around their tails. The markings fade as they mature. Adults are usually solitary but may come together for mating. Females and their cubs or sibling lions may stay together for up to two years. Sources: (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Mountain Lion Brochure; 02/2000) (Andrew Kitchener; The Natural History of the Wild Cats; New York: Cornell University Press, 1991) (The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission's Online Panther Handbook)
*Recently, my contacts with many others in many states and provinces indicates that wildlife officials and others are making a conscious effort to protect cougars and cover up their aggression toward humans. Therefore, because of substantial evidence, I have included the Jaryd Atadero account as a confirmed attack in the statistics section without confirmation from wildlife officials, while the Leigh Ann Cox case has too many unresolved questions to do this within my statistics, though her account is listed on my confirmed pages.
- From 1890 to this date I list 18 *confirmed attacks involving human fatalities in the United States and Canada that have resulted 19 deaths. 3 more very probably due to a cougar but unconfirmed bring the total to 22 deaths. Of the 19 confirmed deaths, 12 were children, from a 3-year-old boy in Colorado to a 13-year-old boy in Washington. The average age of the children killed was a little over 8 years old. In addition another 3-year-old boy in 1991 was probably killed by a cougar, but only lion tracks and drag marks were ever found. 13 of confirmed fatal attacks were initiated on children, though only the defending mother was killed in one case and another woman died later due to rabies contracted defending a 10-year-old who also died due to rabies. Of children killed, only one was a girl. To date, only 2 deaths confirmed by a cougar have been adult males with one other on Vancouver Island in 1995 very probably by a cougar, making 3 total. The other 5 were female. Both the 18-year-old and 35-year-old males confirmed as killed by a cougar plus the 32-year-old on Vancouver Island were involved in fitness activities (jogging/bicycling) as were three of the adult women (jogging/cross country skiing). All of these were alone when attacked. One adult female (who's death cannot be confirmed as due to a cougar because of an apparently deliberately poor investigation by Arkansas officials) was also alone, probably doing yard maintenance. As noted, the other two adult women were killed as a result of defending children. Source: (List of Confirmed Cougar Attacks In the United States and Canada)
- Since 1960 14 have died due to mountain lion attacks after bounty hunting was banned in the United States and Canada. Since 1990 9 have died as a result of confirmed mountain lion attacks with 1 more suspected but unconfirmed since the victim's body was never found. If the total of 10 fatal attacks is considered, in the just the past 14 years, the number of attacks resulting in fatalities is equal to the total of those during the entire 100 years from 1800 to 1990 noted below. Sources: (Calgary Herald; 01/03/2001) (Numbers updated by adding recent attacks listed beginning here at this site)
- A scientific review of records on attacks by cougars on humans in the United States and Canada (by wildlife ecologist, Professor Paul Beier, at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, and formerly of University of California, Berkeley, published in 1991) indicated this:
1890-1990 53 total attacks 9 attacks resulting in 10 fatalities
Source: (DFG 1995 Outdoor California)
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Attacks in the United States and Canada have been as follows:
1970's 17 total attacks found 4 fatalities
1980's 20 total attacks found 2 fatalities
1990's 37 total attacks found 8 fatalities
Source: (Calgary Herald; 01/04/01)
If you have any comments, additions, updates, or editorial suggestions, please e-mail Linda Lewis
Pages Last Updated 03/05/2004