List of fatal cougar attacks in North America

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Cougar
File:ParlamentOfOwlsCougarPDWikipedia.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	Puma
Species:	P. concolor
Binomial name
Puma concolor

This is a list of known or suspected fatal cougar attacks that occurred in North America by decade in chronological order. The cougar is also commonly known as mountain lion, puma, mountain cat, catamount, or panther. The sub-population in Florida, which is a population east of the Mississippi River, is known as the Florida panther. There are also documented presence of cougars in Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

At least 20 people in North America were killed by cougars between 1890 and 2011, including six in California. More than two-thirds of the Canadian fatalities occurred on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal wolf attacks, fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings. Children are particularly vulnerable. The majority of the child victims listed here were not accompanied by adults.

As with many predators, a cougar may attack if cornered, if a fleeing human stimulates their instinct to chase, or if a person "plays dead". Standing still however may cause the cougar to consider a person easy prey. Exaggerating the threat to the animal through intense eye contact, loud shouting, and any other action to appear larger and more menacing, may make the animal retreat. Fighting back with sticks and rocks, or even bare hands, is often effective in persuading an attacking cougar to disengage.

Before 1970

Name, age, gender	Date	Location, comments
Arthur Dangle, 7, male	June 19, 1890	Killed by two cougars while playing near his home in Quartz Valley, Siskiyou County, California
Frank Cook, age unknown, male	November 11, 1901	Attacked by a mountain lion east of the Santa Caterina Landing in southern California.
Child, 2, male	January 31, 1909	Killed by mountain lion near Balboa, California. The boy was attacked while in a tent.
? Brown, 14, male	February 2, 1909	Killed by a mountain lion near Balboa, California.
Isola Kennedy, 38, female; Earl Wilson, 10, male	July 5, 1909	Rabid cougar attacked a woman and child in Morgan Hill in Santa Clara County, California. Both victims died from rabies, not from the physical injuries. This is the only instance of a double fatality and the only instance where the victims succumbed to disease rather than the injuries sustained in the attack.
Child, 3, male	August 21, 1911	Killed by mountain lion inside family home near Brownsville, Texas.
Jimmie Fehlhaber, 13, male	December 17, 1924	Attacked and killed in Olema, Washington as he tried to outrun a cougar for about 100 yards (91 m)
Dominic Taylor, 7, male	June 1949	Attacked and killed while walking on a beach in Kyuquot, British Columbia
Elena Salzar, 5, female	June 1953	Attacked, dragged off, and eaten in Tampico, Mexico
Woman, unknown age, female	1951	Killed in Tampico, Mexico.

1970s

Name, age, gender	Date	Location, comments
Lawrence Wells, 12, male	January 1971	Attacked and killed in Lytton, British Columbia by male cougar while playing with his sisters
Kenneth Clark Nolan, 8, male	January 20, 1974	Killed by a 3 year old female cougar in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico
Matilda Mae Samuel, 7, female	July 1976	Killed by cougar near Gold River, British Columbia Killed while walking on a road.

1980s

Name, age, gender	Date	Location, comments
Jesse Sky Bergman, 9, male	May 16, 1988	Stalked and killed by a four-year-old male cougar at Catface Mountain in British Columbia near Tofino.
Jake Thomas Gardipee, 5, male	September 9, 1989	Attacked and killed by at least two, possibly three, cougars behind his Missoula County, Montana home while riding a tricycle.

1990s

Name, age, gender	Date	Location, comments
Scott Lancaster, 18, male	January 14, 1991	Killed while jogging a familiar route on a hill above Clear Creek High School in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
Jeremy Williams, 7, male	May 5, 1992	Attacked and killed in Kyuquot, British Columbia by a young female cougar while playing in the school yard.
Barbara Barsalou Schoener, 40, female	April 23, 1994	Long distance runner and Placerville resident was attacked and killed while jogging on the American River Canyon Trail in California's Auburn State Recreation Area.
Iris M. Kenna, 56, female	December 10, 1994	Killed while hiking alone near Cuyamaca Peak in California's Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.
Cindy Parolin, 36, female	August 19, 1996	Mother killed while defending her 6 year old son on a horse back riding trip in Tulameen, British Columbia.
Mark Miedema, 10, male	July 17, 1997	Killed by an adult female cougar in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park while hiking when he got ahead of his family.

2000s

Name, age, gender	Date	Location, comments
Frances Frost, 30, female	January 2, 2001	This Canmore, Alberta resident was killed by a cougar while skiing on Cascade Fire Road just north of Banff National Park in Alberta
Mark Jeffrey Reynolds, 35, male	January 8, 2004	Attacked and killed while mountain biking at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in southern Orange County, California. It is believed his chain fell off and the cougar attacked when he bent down to repair his bicycle.
Robert Nawojski, 55, male	June 24, 2008	Searchers found his body on this date near his mobile home in Pinos Altos, New Mexico. Investigators concluded that he had been attacked and killed by a cougar several days earlier.

See also

• List of fatal bear attacks in North America
• List of wolf attacks in North America
• Animal attacks