Nongame Wildlife Program
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CDFW Nongame Program
1812 9th Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 445-0411
Verified Mountain Lion Attacks on Humans in California (1986 through 2013)
| Date | Type | Attack Location | County | Victim Sex | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 1986 | Nonfatal | Caspers Wilderness Park | Orange | Female | 5 yrs. |
| Oct. 1986 | Nonfatal | Caspers Wilderness Park | Orange | Male | 6 yrs. |
| March 1992 | Nonfatal | Gaviota State Park | Santa Barbara | Male | 9 yrs. |
| Sept. 1993 | Nonfatal | Cuyamaca State Park | San Diego | Female | 10 yrs. |
| Apr. 1994 | Fatal | Auburn State Recreation Area | El Dorado | Female | 40 yrs. |
| Aug. 1994 | Nonfatal | Mendocino County (remote) | Mendocino | Male | 50s |
| Nonfatal | Female | 50s | |||
| Dec. 1994 | Fatal | Cuyamaca State Park | San Diego | Female | 56 yrs. |
| Mar. 1995 | Nonfatal | Mt. Lowe (San Gabriel Mtns.) | Los Angeles | Male | 27 yrs. |
| Jan. 2004 | Fatal | Whiting Ranch Regional Park | Orange | Male | 35 yrs. |
| Jan. 2004 | Nonfatal | Whiting Ranch Regional Park | Orange | Female | 30 yrs. |
| June 2004 | Nonfatal | Sequoia National Forest | Tulare | Female | 28 yrs. |
| Jan. 2007 | Nonfatal | Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park | Humboldt | Male | 70 yrs |
| Jul. 2012 | Nonfatal | Confluence of Shady Creek and Yuba River | Nevada | Male | 63 yrs |
Note: Two additional fatal incidents involving three victims occurred prior to 1910. Furthermore, two additional incidents have been reported by the media as attacks. However, they do not fit the criteria of verifiable attacks on humans and were not confirmed. One incident involved a turkey hunter who was camouflaged and calling for turkeys when a mountain lion approached from behind. Immediately after the mountain lion confronted the hunter and realized that the hunter was not a turkey, the lion ran away. This is not judged to be an attack on a human. Every indication suggests that if the hunter had not been camouflaged and calling like a turkey, the mountain lion would have avoided him. The other incident on the Los Padres National Forest was described as a mountain lion attack on a boy near a stream. However, the alleged injuries were not verified by a physician, law enforcement officer or CDFW personnel.


