In Georgetown, 50 miles northeast of Sacramento, a twenty-one-year-old man was found dead with several injuries resulting from a mountain lion attack. The twenty-one-year-old was hunting for shed antlers near George Town with his eighteen-year-old brother. Though when the attack had taken place the two brothers had separated leaving the eighteen-year-old to call the El Dorado County Sheriff’s office. According to the dispatcher the brother (18 years old) was being pinned down as the lion had a hold of his neck. As authorities arrived, shortly after 1 p.m., the eighteen-year-old was found to have suffered traumatic injuries to his face. After the emergency crew provided aid to the eighteen-year-old’s injuries, they began the search for the twenty-one-year-old. It was reported that the emergency crew found the mountain lion crouching near the twenty-one-year-old’s body. Authorities began to open fire on the mountain lion, forcing the animal to flee the scene. The emergency crew stated that the twenty-one-year-old had died on the scene.
The eighteen-year-old brother has undergone multiple surgeries for his injuries and is expected to make a full recovery, an officer stated. “The family is grateful for the prayers and condolences from the community however wishes for privacy to process this tragic event. The California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife said its wardens found a cougar and euthanized it. According to the department, “The mountain lion has been sent to the CDFW forensics laboratory to obtain DNA information and the general health of the lion.” The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed that the mountain lion euthanized is involved in this fatal attack. It was also stated that the DNA samples collected from the scene matched the samples taken from the crime scene. It was reported that the mountain lion weighed about 90 pounds and was in healthy condition.
According to the sheriff’s office, the last fatal mountain lion attack to take place in the area was around 1994. A forty-year-old woman named Barbara Schoener was running along the Auburn Lake trails, roughly twelve miles West of Georgetown. However, just last year a mountain lion wreaked on Loomis, about 20 miles west of Georgetown killed several residents’ livestock. Another recent mountain lion attack took place in January 2004 in Whiting Ranch Regional Park in Orange County. Mark Reynolds, a 35-year-old was cycling when he stopped to fix his bicycle chain though moments later was struck by a mountain lion. These mountain lion attacks are becoming recurring events that need more awareness. Though, mountain lions are protected by law from being hunted in California and have been designated as a protected mammals since the passage of Proposition 117 in 1990. California is a very popular city and these deaths could have been prevented if there was more awareness of such dangers.
