List of fatal cougar attacks in North America information
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This is a list of known or suspected fatal cougar attacks that occurred in North America by decade in chronological order. The cougar is also commonly known as mountain lion, puma, mountain cat, catamount, or panther. The sub-population in Florida is known as the Florida panther.
Over 130 attacks have been documented in [1] North America in the past 100 years, with 28 attacks resulting in fatalities. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.[2][3][4] Children are particularly vulnerable. The majority of the child victims listed here were not accompanied by adults.
As with many predators, a cougar may attack if cornered, if a fleeing human stimulates their instinct to chase, or if a person "plays dead." Standing still however may cause the cougar to consider a person easy prey.[5] Exaggerating the threat to the animal through intense eye contact, loud shouting, and any other action to appear larger and more menacing, may make the animal retreat.
Humans are capable of fending off cougars, as adult humans are generally larger. It is even possible for humans to win a fight against a cougar, such as the case of Travis Kauffman, who choked a juvenile cougar to death when attacked while jogging.[6] Fighting back with sticks and rocks, or even bare hands, is often effective in persuading an attacking cougar to disengage.[7][8] In 2024, four women engaged "hand-to-hand combat" for 45 minutes with a cougar that had attacked and bitten their friend through the face; during the engagement the women pinned the cougar down with one of their bikes, and "at one point the cougar even lifted the bike with the women standing on it." A wildlife officer who was summoned to the scene ultimately dispatched the cougar by gunshot.[9]
^"Cougar | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife". wdfw.wa.gov. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
^"Citation for claim about lightning strikes".
^"Citation for claim about snake bites".
^"Citation for claim about bees and wasps". MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 68 (29): 649. 2019. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6829a5. PMC 6660102. PMID 31344022.
^Subramanian, Sushma (April 14, 2009). "Should You Run or Freeze When You See a Mountain Lion?". Scientific American. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
^"Remember the Fort Collins trail runner who killed an attacking mountain lion? Here's what his life has been like since". 18 July 2019.
^McKee, Denise (2003). "Cougar Attacks on Humans: A Case Report". Wilderness and Environmental Medicine. 14 (3). Wilderness Medical Society: 169–73. doi:10.1580/1080-6032(2003)14[169:CAOHAC]2.0.CO;2. PMID 14518628.
^"Safety Guide to Cougars". Environmental Stewardship Division. Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Environment. 1991. Archived from the original on August 23, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
^Wanshel, Elyse (2024-03-18). "Cyclist Tackled Off Bike And Mauled In The Face By Cougar Saved By 'Heroic' Friends". HuffPost. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
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