Colorado Boy Bitten on Head by Mountain Lion While Playing Outside

A mountain lion attacked and injured an 8-year-old boy outside his rural Colorado home.

Published: 8/22/2019, 2:14:16 PM EDT

Colorado Boy Bitten on Head by Mountain Lion While Playing Outside — A mountain lion, in an undated handout from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. (CPW)

A mountain lion attacked an 8-year-old boy just outside his rural Colorado home, injuring the child.

The boy was outside his home near Bailey, which is southwest of Denver, playing on a trampoline with a sibling when one of the his friends called out to him from a nearby home, prompting the boy to run off toward his friend's home. While the child was running, a mountain lion attacked him and bit him on the head, according to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) news release.

"The kid was running and it probably triggered the lions natural response to a prey animal running," said Area Wildlife Manager Mark Lamb. "We all hope that the child will be alright and you just hate to see this occur."

CPW spokesman Jason Clay said that the boy was bitten on the head around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

According to the release, the 8-year-old's brother, who had been on the trampoline with him, ran inside the house to get his father because "something did not sound right."

The animal let go of the child and ran off after the boy's father rushed toward the animal.

The attack prompted state wildlife officials to set traps and use search dogs in an effort to find the animal.

After a two-hour search following the attack, the team of search dogs were unable to pick up a scent trail to track the animal, officials with the CPW said in a news release.

"Efforts are ongoing Thursday to locate the mountain lion," CPW wrote on Twitter the next day.

CBS4 reported that the boy was taken to the Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, where he remained overnight.

Authorities have not released his identity and the severity of his injuries.

It’s the third attack by a mountain lion on a person in Colorado so far this year.

On Aug. 10, a man said he used a pocket knife to fight off a mountain lion after it attacked him. Richard Marriott, a hunter, said the animal began to stalk him on a moonlight trail at Big Horn Park.

Marriot said he regrets not having a gun with him. “I think I would have been able to give it a warning shot and hopefully it would have ran off,” he said.

A picture posted on social media by Aspen News shows the man posing with the animal in the back of a truck.

In February, a jogger choked a mountain lion to death after the animal attacked him.

After the attack, the CPW posted on Twitter that attacks by mountain lions are not common in the state.

"These attacks are not common in Colorado. Here's what to do if you encounter a mountain lion," the agency wrote on Twitter.

The Associated Press and Epoch Times reporters Janita Kan and Simon Veazey contributed to this report.