Posted on 06/27/2004 6:26:08 PM PDT by aculeus
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A woman was attacked by a mountain lion while hiking in central California, but was rescued when her friends stabbed the animal with a knife and threw rocks at it, officials said.
Shannon Parker lost her right eye, was injured in her other eye and suffered deep lacerations to her right thigh during the attack Saturday, officials with the California Department of Fish and Game said.
Parker, 27, of Santa Monica, was transferred to UCLA Medical Center, where she underwent reconstructive surgery Sunday morning, Game and Fish spokesman Steve Martarano said.
Parker's family asked UCLA not to release her condition, hospital spokeswoman Rachel Shampeau said.
Authorities said Parker was hiking with three male friends about 20 miles north of Kernville when the 70-pound female lion attacked her, Martarano said. The lion ran off after Parker's friends stabbed it and threw rocks at it.
The lion left a bloody trail as it fled, and was later shot and killed by U.S. Forest Service officers and state game wardens, Martarano said.
The lion "appeared to be emaciated" and officials will do a necropsy Monday to determine whether it was sick or injured, Martarano said.
A 2002 wildfire in the area may have hampered the lion's ability to find enough food, he said.
"Before the fire, (the area) was considered moderate to good mountain lion and deer habitat. The fire changed everything," but the area had recently started to revive, Martarano said.
He said the incident was the 15th mountain lion attack on a human in California since 1890.
In January, a mountain lion killed a cyclist and mauled another near Los Angeles.
I wonder how many letters of support the mountain lion will receive,
Interesting that it attacked a group of four. Even considering the woman was probably the smallest, it doesn't seem like ordinary behavior for a predator. Maybe the rangers are right about its condition
If we don't shoot at them, they will come.
Maybe she will learn from her mistake.
If she was packing heat, mountain lion de jour would be pushing up daisies like Osama bin Laden......
What would Ms. Parker do if she had been a member of PETA?
Not from here but something to think about:
Apparently the mountain lion was starving and there is a great chance that she had cubs to feed.
The woman in question represented an answer to both problems.
I would have suggested that the hiking party be armed but that wouldnt have worked either. The cat would have been on them before they could have drawn a weapon.
She chose her hiking companions well. They seem to have done a good job in a tough situation. Prayers for her healing from this horrible attack.
2 years of not eating and unarmed prey.
It sounds like the citizens of California need to get rid of that stupid freaking law.
Have hiked there;now I view moose from this chair in Maine.
Did it bit your sister?
Sorry, in California all we get is more stupid freaking laws, there is no relief in sight, and I am deeply saddened by that, seriesly.
Did I miss something in the article?
Draw and fire does not take more than a second or two.
Thank God Mountain Lions aren't permitted to carry firearms.
Cats are born hunters and stalkers, ever watch a house cat stalk a bird?
These creatures could be on you in a split second.
If you were one of the woman's companions and had a pistol what would you do?
The cat and the woman are on the ground and mixing it up.
Chances are if you pulled the trigger you would have killed the woman as easily as the cat.
Well obviously they got in close enough to stab it, so they could have shot it at that point.
According to this article, there have been 15 attacks in CA in the past 114 years -- and 20% of them happened in the past 6 months. They better be thinking about a solution to this little problem.
Hmmmm.....time to setup metal detectors on hiking trails. We can't have these kinds of lunatics around decent, disarmed citizens.
</sarcasm>
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