Mt lion attack in Texas

08 February 2012, 04:08

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Alpine - Big Bend National Park’s Chisos Basin was the scene of a mountain lion attack against a 6-year-old boy hiking with his family on Sunday, and traps have been set in an attempt to capture the “haggard looking” animal.

The young boy, whose name has been withheld, sustained non-life threatening injuries, including scratches and puncture wounds to his face, as his father was able to fight off the cat.

The boy was transferred to a hospital in Alpine, approximately 120 miles north of the park. The boy and his family were reported to be from Leander, just outside Austin.

A park press release states park rangers closed trails in the Chisos Mountains early Monday morning and initiated patrols for the animal. Other rangers began patrols notifying trail users and instituting evacuations of the area.

Among the trails closed until further notice are Boulder Meadows, the Pinnacles and Juniper Flat campsites. As of late Monday, park rangers and a dog team had been unable to find the lion. “From the description, it’s small and haggard looking,” said David Elkowitz, a park spokesman, according to MySA. If found, the cat will be killed, according to reports. The last mountain lion attack in Big Bend occurred in 2003, and just as with Sunday’s attack, was non-life threatening.

Big Bend’s name is derived from the large, natural bend of the Rio Grande River which creates the natural boundary between Texas and Mexico and was authorized by Congress in 1935 as a national park.

The Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park. Like this imageBig Bend National Park is the nation’s 15th largest in its park system, covering 801,163 acres. The Chisos Mountains, located in the approximate center of the park, are its primary attraction, a microenvironment in the massive Chihuahuan desert.