Trails back open after child attacked by cougar at Olympic National Park

KIRO 7 News Staff
·1 min read
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Trails are back open at Olympic National Park after a cougar attacked a child last month.

Clallam County Transit is also resuming its trips to the trailheads but the Lake Angeles area remains closed. That’s where the 8-year-old was attacked while camping with their family.

The child was only slightly hurt but the cougar was never found.

The attack happened around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday while a family of six was camping at Lake Angeles. Two of the kids were down by the shoreline when a cougar attacked one of them.

The mom was close by and began screaming at the cougar to scare it off. Once the cougar fled, the family found park rangers and told them what had happened. The child was then taken to Olympic Medical Center for further evaluation.

Park leadership is giving major props to the mom for knowing what to do during the terrifying situation.

“So, pretty much when that happens you are just trying to scare that cougar off as much as you can. You’re shouting at it. You’re yelling at it. You are being as big and loud as possible. You can even throw things at it, sticks and rocks. You are just trying to scare it off and teach that cougar I am not your prey do not mess with me,” said Olympic National Park PIO Amos Almy.