Interestingly this month, a mountain lion (aka cougar, puma, or panther) that bit a 4-year-old child on a popular trail at Olympic National Park in Washington was euthanized. Apparently, the child was treated at a Seattle hospital and released the following day. The child had been walking with family members at the national park, when the mountain lion wearing a tracking collar, bit the child. The family or child’s identity and extent of the injuries were not released. Another issue is how far was the child walking ahead of the family, which could be a violation of park rules?
Beware of Mountain Lions
Rangers were notified of the attack, and paramedics transferred the child by an air ambulance to a Seattle hospital. According to Park officials, rangers with a canine team searched for the cougar and found it on the same day of the attack. It was not euthanized until the next day, It seems to me the park officials overreacted without much investigation into the incident! Were the kid’s family important members of a political organization, thus lots of pressure was placed on the rangers to euthanize the mountain lion?
Editor’s Notes: U.S Park Rules state when hikers or visitors are warned about nearby wildlife in national parks, the rules are all about respecting distance, minimizing impact, and staying safe. Here’s what hikers or visitors should know before hiking in national parks: 1) Keep your distance! Stay at least 25 yards from most wildlife like elk or moose, and 100 yards from predators like bears, wolves, or cougars. Predators have a keen sense of smell and can smell you long before you see them! If the animal notices you or changes behavior, you’re too close! and 2) Park rangers can fine hikers or visitors who do not obey the park rules! Park rangers are federal law enforcement officers empowered to enforce regulations within national parks, and their jurisdiction includes everything from trail conduct to wildlife protection. It’s about protecting people and wildlife. Rangers have a challenging job at times, so be respectful of the park rules!
Mountain lion attacks on humans are exceedingly rare, according to wildlife experts. There have been several dozen fatal attacks in the U.S. in the last 150 years, according to national data. Mountain lions are very independent and nocturnal cats, keeping a low profile among park hikers or visitors, which makes sightings of them very unusual, especially during the day. Colorado passed a controversial law this year on killing mountain lions except in national parks, after a very controversial video ad by a supposedly wildlife expert agreed to the law! They showed dog packs chasing a mountain lion up a tree, then shot and killed it! The problem is mountain lions are beneficial to keeping elk, deer, and other big game in check! Once the mountain lions are gone from this state, guess what happens to the big game and hunters?
The sad issue about this story is fourfold. First, why was a child permitted to be walking in an area that has all sorts of wildlife in a remote area of the park? Second, was the mountain lion a female protecting its young, when this is the season for caring for their young? Most female mountain lions stay away from people when caring for their young, unless threatened by anyone close to its den. The rangers should have known the den’s location and warned any hikers or visitors to stay away, since the mountain lion had a tracking collar.
Since the mountain lion had a tracking collar, why wasn’t it being tracked as to its location? Mountain lions can be transported to other remote regions of the park for safety reasons. It’s lucky the child or the family members were not badly injured or killed as the park rangers could be at fault!
And last, since the child was not badly injured or killed, why was the cougar euthanized? Could the cougar have rabies and acted strangely? Did the rangers warn area hikers or visitors there are wildlife dangers in their national park? Seems to me the hikers could be fined for not abiding by park rules! And maybe the rangers are at fault for not warning hikers of the mountain lion’s location, or investigating the incident in more detail, such as checking for rabies, or seeing if there was the mountain lion’s den nearby! Lots of questions and no easy answers!
Here’s a startling fact on wildlife! The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) provided a fact several years ago that 60% of all world wildlife was decimated in the last 50 years due to poaching, illegal hunting, changing laws, and killing animals for their skins and other illogical reasons! ABC and PBS ran environmental specials on our planet in the last 15 years that all wildlife will be gone before the end of this century! I have a troubling slogan: If we don’t take care of this planet immediately, it will die and so will we!