5-Year-Old Boy Dragged By Mountain Lion In His Front Yard, Wildlife Officer Shoots and Kills Lion

A 5-year-old boy in Southern California was dragged across his front yard by a mountain lion. A wildlife officer later killed the lion.

The 65-pound mountain lion attacked the boy while he was outside playing near his home in Calabasas. The young boy was “dragged” for about 45 yards, NBC News reported.

Capt. Patrick Foy, a spokesman with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, reported that the boy suffered significant traumatic injuries to both his head and upper body.

He was listed in stable condition at a nearby Los Angeles hospital.

“The true hero of this story is his mom because she absolutely saved her son’s life,” Foy said. The mother was inside the house when she heard the encounter happening outside.

“She ran out of the house and started punching and striking the mountain lion with her bare hands and got him off her son,” he said.

The boy’s parents were able to drive him to the hospital. Law enforcement became aware of the attack and sent a wildlife officer to the scene.

The officer discovered a mountain lion crouching behind a bush with its “ears back and hissing.”

“Due to its behavior and proximity to the attack, the warden believed it was likely the attacking lion and to protect public safety shot and killed it on site,” the wildlife department said in a statement Saturday.

A DNA test was conducted and confirmed the mountain lion killed was the one that attacked the five-year-old.