A mountain lion bit a 4-year-old child in Olympic National Park on July 20, 2025, resulting in a Flight for Life to Seattle. The incident, which occurred in the north section of the park near the Victoria Overlook area on Hurricane Ridge, is now under investigation. Park rangers are asking for any witnesses to contact them with information.
Rangers were notified of the attack around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday. Reports said the child was with their family on a popular hiking trail when a collared mountain lion attacked the 4-year-old. According to the Guardian, the child’s father wrestled them out of the lion’s mouth.
“I don’t think that kid would survive if it wasn’t for his dad jumping in,” hiker Steve Murrow, a witness to the attack, told Seattle’s KIRO news station.
Clallam County Fire District 2 paramedics and park staff quickly responded, and the victim was airlifted and flown to a Level 1 Trauma Center in Seattle for treatment. KIRO reported that the child’s condition was listed as satisfactory; the child has since been discharged.
Immediately following the attack, park staff set out in search of the mountain lion. A canine tracking team arrived around 5 p.m. Shortly thereafter, the lion was located, and the next day, July 21, it was euthanized. NPS said in a press release, “There are no current threats to the public.”
If you saw the attack, NPS requests that you contact them via phone at 888-653-0009 or email at [email protected]. GearJunkie contacted NPS for this story, but has not received responses to our questions as of this writing.
Cascade National Park: Mountain Lion Awareness
Often called pumas, panthers, painters, catamounts, or ghost cats, mountain lions (Puma concolor) are the largest wild cats in North America. They’re also one of the continent’s most elusive and stealthy apex predators.
While their numbers in Olympic National Park are hard to gauge, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that there are roughly 2,400 mountain lions in the state. They are typically reddish brown or grey-brown in color with dark facial and tail markings.
The Olympic National Park webpage on mountain lion safety requests that all sightings of mountain lions be reported to park staff or through an online wildlife report.
“The cougar is a potentially dangerous animal, although attacks on humans are rare,” the NPS webpage reads.
When a mountain lion does attack, it can be serious. According to the Yale School of Environment, at least 32 fatal attacks have occurred since 1980. Just in 2024, a mountain lion attacked a woman riding her bike in Washington and attempted to drag her away. Her friends stopped the cat, which eventually released her after a 45-minute ordeal.
If you encounter a mountain lion, NPS says do not approach it. Stop, make yourself as large as possible, and do not turn your back on the animal. Pick up small children or pets, and talk calmly and firmly to the lion, leaving it a route to escape. NPS recommends that if the animal becomes aggressive toward you, act aggressively back. If it attacks, fight back.
For more information on Mountain Lions in Olympic National Park, visit the NPS webpage. For more general information, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department webpage on mountain lion safety.
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