Suspected mountain lion attack in Northern Colorado leaves woman dead; officers euthanize 2 animals

A woman who was hiking on a trail in Colorado's Larimer County was found dead on Thursday after what appears to have been a mountain lion attack. If further investigation by state officials determines the animal or animals are responsible, it would be the first fatal mountain lion attack on a human in Colorado in almost 30 years.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Kara Van Hoose said several people who were hiking on the Crosier Mountain Trail south of Glen Haven at 12:15 p.m. when they saw a person lying on the ground and a mountain lion nearby. They said they were about 100 yards away.

"As they started to get closer, they started to scare the lion from the area by throwing rocks at the animal and it eventually went away, but they found an adult woman lying on the trail," Van Hoose said at a a news conference. "One of the hikers is a physician and did not find a pulse."

The identity of the woman has not yet been revealed.   

First responders including CPW wildlife officers and dog teams responded to the scene and searched for mountain lions in the area. Two were found and both wound up being euthanized but it's unclear if both mountain lions were involved in the suspected attack.

"There were signs that this was consistent with a mountain lion attack but we can't say for sure," Van Hoose said. 

It's CPW policy to kill any wild animal involved in a human attack.

Necropsies will be performed on the mountain lions. Van Hoose said the mountain lions will also be tested for human DNA to confirm the ones euthanized were the mountain lions that attacked.

Van Hoose said there are only 28 reported attacks of mountain lions on humans since 1990 and there hasn't been a fatal attack since 1999.