Searching for mountain lions along a remote trail in Colorado where he was hiking alone He attacked a murderer It ended Monday, after authorities killed two of the predators last week, but were unable to find a third.
The victim of the New Year’s Day attack has been identified as a 46-year-old woman from Fort Collins, about an hour’s drive from the site of the attack on the Crosier Mountain Trail east of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The victim, Christine Marie Kovach, died of asphyxiation due to pressure on her neck, the Larimer County Coroner’s Office said in a statement Monday. The coroner’s office said the injuries were “consistent with a mountain lion attack” and Kovac’s death was ruled an accident.
Two hikers saw Kovach’s body on a trail southeast of the community of Glen Haven, Colorado, around noon on Jan. 1, state officials said. There was a mountain lion nearby, so they threw stones to scare it away. One of the hikers, a doctor, examined the victim but found no pulse.
Later that day, wildlife officers shot and killed two mountain lions that were in the area surrounding the attack. The search for a third lion discovered in the area spanned four days with no other sign of the animal, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said.
Mountain lions — also known as cougars, pumas, or catamounts — can weigh 130 pounds (60 kilograms) and grow to be more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) long. They eat primarily deer.
Colorado has an estimated 3,800 to 4,400 mountain lions, which are classified as the state’s big game species and can be hunted.
A Glen Haven man runs on the same track where Kovach was killed I encountered a mountain lion In November. He said that she lunged at him forcefully, but he resisted her with the stick.