Authorities are currently looking for the mountain lion that attacked a 6-year-old hiker along a trail near Cupertino, California, on Sunday afternoon.
The incident was reported by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, which had the hiking trails closed after receiving a report on the mountain lion attack on Sunday, 1 p.m. Over 20 deputies, park rangers and personnel from the Department of Fish and Wildlife of California joined the search for the animal while telling the public to steer clear from the area where the attack happened.
According to Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kurtis Stenderup, the child reportedly attacked by the animal around 2 miles from the Picchetti Winery located at 13100 Montebello Road.
The child, who was hiking on the trail with his family, fortunately did not suffer any life-threatening injuries from the incident. Specific details of the injuries, though described as moderate, were not disclosed to the public, along with the identity of the child.
The child is expected to full recover from his injuries and is currently confined at the Valley Medical Center in Santa Clara County.
The circumstances that led to the mountain lion attacking the child, however, are still unclear.
Stenderup said that the sheriff's office is aware of the presence of mountain lions in the area, as the office has received calls in the past regarding the wild animal. However, the calls were mostly about the animals crossing the road or walking by a person's yard, without any dangerous encounters with people.
"If you live in the hills, you kind of expect that. But I think it's rare to have a mountain lion attack a person, let alone a child. We're going to look into it and figure out why that whole thing happened," added Stenderup.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife will determine the actions to do regarding the mountain lion once it is found.
In nearby Mountain View back in May, another mountain lion that traversed from the rural areas into the city was tranquilized without incident and returned back to its natural habitat.
In early August, a river otter brutally attacked a boy and his grandmother in Pilchuck River, about 30 miles northeast of Seattle, inflicting serious injuries on the two individuals. The otter first attacked the boy with bites and scratches, then attacked the grandmother when she tried to rescue the boy.
Wildlife officials said that otters, like mountain lions, are generally not aggressive or dangerous animals. However, they can be so under the wrong circumstances.
