One man died and another was injured in a mountain lion attack in a remote area in Northern California on Saturday, according to authorities.
The two were brothers, identified in a family statement forwarded by the El Dorado County sheriff’s office as Taylen Brooks, 21, and Wyatt Brooks, 18, of the community of Mount Aukum, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Wyatt Brooks called authorities around 1:13 p.m. Saturday to report that he and his brother were attacked by a mountain lion while hunting for shed antlers in the Georgetown area, according to release from the sheriff’s office. He said they became separated during the attack and he didn’t know where his brother was.
Deputies arrived in the area of the attack around 1:30 p.m. Wyatt Brooks, who had suffered “traumatic injuries” to his face, was taken to a hospital for further treatment, the sheriff’s office said.
Around 1:46 p.m., deputies searching for Taylen Brooks found him on the ground next to the crouched mountain lion, the release said. They fired their weapons to ward off the lion so they could get to Brooks. When they reached him, they realized the man had died, according to the sheriff’s office.
Within a few hours, the mountain lion was found and killed by a professional trapper working with wardens from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to Kyle Parker, a spokesperson for the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.
On Sunday afternoon, the wildlife agency said that DNA confirmed that the lion was the one that had attacked the men. It was an apparently healthy 90-pound male.
The agency’s announcement said: “CDFW will remain in close coordination with the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office as standard pathology and other assessments of the lion are completed. Forensic scientists will continue analyzing necropsy results to determine whether there were underlying health conditions related to this particular animal.”
Mountain lion attacks on humans are rare, according to the state agency. This is the first fatal mountain lion attack in California in 20 years.
The last recorded fatal mountain lion attack in El Dorado County was reported in April 1994, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. A 40-year-old trail runner died after an attack in the Auburn State Recreation Area.
Since 1900, there have been fewer than 50 reported mountain lion attacks on humans in California, and only five of those have been fatal, according to California wildlife officials. In three of the cases, the person killed was alone when the attack occurred, according to the department.
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