With stitches in his neck, taking antibiotics, and on pain medication, Lucky the alpaca might not appear to be so aptly named.
But, dragged by a cougar from his pen on a Washington farm, the baby alpaca is only alive thanks to his brave mom, said his owners.
The dramatic attack at Cedar Creek Alpaca Farm in Bergen, Washington, was caught on surveillance camera.
His owners said they are “astonished” the baby alpaca, known as a cria, survived being dragged off from under his mom’s nose.
“It is the scariest thing we have seen,” wrote Angela Rogers, on an online funding site set up to help with his recovery costs. “We are calling him Lucky. He is the luckiest alpaca to survive such trauma.”
The video shows the pack of alpacas becoming hyper-alert as a cougar enters the enclosure. The cougar runs in past Lucky’s mom, and grabs the 15 pound baby alpaca that was only one week old at the time.
As the cougar runs off holding him by the neck, Lucky’s mom’s instincts then kick in, and she chases down the cougar that then drops her baby.
The incident happened on Sunday, Sept. 16.
A week later, Rogers posted a picture of Lucky sporting a pink neck bandage, as the farm appealed for donations to help with vet bills and to bolster the protection around the farm with additional fencing.
“We had to get his neck stitched up and he is currently on antibiotics and pain medicine when he needs it,” wrote Rogers.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife was informed of the sighting, reported UPI, but despite searching, were unable to pick up its trail.
Rogers said it was the first time in nine years of alpaca farming that they had a problem with predators.
From The Epoch Times
