"The concensus was that the boy had been taken by a lion. "
Oh, yeah kind of like man made global warming.
I can see no logical connection between the idea that man has contributed to climate change, and the existence of some large predators in our wilderness areas. If a kid goes missing in an area inhabited by large predators and his body is never found despite an assiduous search by hundreds of determined volunteers, aircraft, search dogs, etc., and the area contains 45-pound coyotes and 100-pound mountain lions, why would it be a reach to think that a predator might have taken him? Why do you have a problem with this?