A 21-year-old man was killed and his 18-year-old brother injured by a mountain lion in a remote area of the Northern California foothills, authorities said Saturday.
The brothers were searching for a shed antler near Georgetown in El Dorado County when the mountain lion attacked, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.
The younger brother called the sheriff’s office around 1:15 p.m. to report the attack and said he had become separated from his brother.
Police arrived around 1:30 p.m., found an 18-year-old boy with facial injuries, and began rescue efforts. Other deputies found the missing brother lying on the ground and the mountain lion crouched on top of him, officials said.
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A mountain lion attacked two brothers in Northern California Saturday afternoon as they searched for a loose antler near Georgetown in El Dorado County, authorities said. (nps.gov, file)
Deputies fired their weapons to scare away the mountain lion, which was sitting between the deputy and the victim. When the mountain lion fled, officers rushed to the mountain lion’s brother, who was found dead.
Minutes after finding the injured brother, deputies found him lying on the ground with a mountain lion crouched on top of him, according to the sheriff’s office. (El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office)
California Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens and trappers, as well as El Dorado County trappers, responded to the scene and located the mountain lion. The big cat was euthanized, the sheriff’s office said.
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The siblings’ identities have not yet been released. An update on his brother’s condition was not immediately available.
Wildlife officers later found the mountain lion and euthanized the predator. (St. Petersburg)
Georgetown is a historic town of just over 2,000 people located approximately 80 miles northeast of Sacramento.
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Nearly 20 mountain lion attacks on humans have been reported since the mid-1980s, according to a verified list kept by the Fish and Wildlife Service. However, the last fatal crash occurred in Orange County in 2004.
