Mountain lion attacks bikers in Orange County, body found

LAKE FOREST - A mountain lion was shot and killed by authorities late Thursday after it attacked two bicyclists, injuring one woman in an Orange County wilderness park. The body of a man who may have been mauled by the same animal also was found nearby, authorities said. The 2-year-old male cat, which weighed about 110 pounds, was shot shortly after 8 p.m. by an Orange County sheriff's deputy, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Fish and Game Department. The lion had returned to the body of the dead man when it was spotted and shot, Martarano said. The animal will be taken to a laboratory where a necropsy will be performed. The attack occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park when a mountain lion pounced on a woman who was riding a bicycle with her friend, said Capt. Stephen Miller of the Orange County Fire Authority. The lion grabbed Ann Hjelle, 30, by her head and began dragging her. Her friend, Debi Nichols, began screaming for help and grabbed the victim's legs in a struggle to free her. "This mountain lion jumped on her back and started dragging her," Nichols told KCAL-TV. "He dragged us down ... about 100 yards into the brush and I just kept screaming. This guy would not let go. He had a hold of her face." Diego Lopez was among of a group of bikers who came to the victim's aid, throwing rocks at the animal until it fled. "I picked up a rock and threw it at the cat and the rock hit the cat right on the side of the head and the cat took off straight ahead and let go of the woman," Lopez told KABC-TV. Hjelle was flown by helicopter to Mission Hospital where she remains in serious condition, hospital spokeswoman Karen Prestia said. After the attack, the body of an unidentified man was found at the top of a trail, near an unattended bicycle. Authorities couldn't confirm if the man, believed to be in his 20s or 30s, was killed by the mountain lion. "We don't know how long he's been out there," Miller said. "But it's pretty obvious that an animal was involved in this (death)." Coroner's officials were called to the scene and will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Including Thursday's incident, there have been only 13 mountain lion attacks on humans in California over the past 114 years, said Doug Updike, a biologist with California Fish and Game Department. In those cases, there were five fatalities, he said. "The probability of somebody being attacked by a lion is extremely rare," Updike said. "There is a better chance of being struck by lightning than being attacked by a lion." Although the number of attacks is comparatively small, there have been previous sightings and attacks in southern Orange County where Thursday's incident occurred. Last September, game wardens shot and wounded an aggressive mountain lion spotted near an equestrian center in San Juan Capistrano. The lion was later found and killed, state officials said. In 1986, 5 -year-old Laura Small was attacked while looking for tadpoles with her mother in Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park in Orange County. The girl's mother was able to rescue her daughter whose skull was partially crushed by the mountain lion's jaws. She was left blind in one eye and paralyzed on her right side. Months later, a 6-year-old boy was mauled in the same park. County supervisors closed most of the park to children for nearly a decade. The ban was lifted in December 1997. Mountain lions cannot be hunted or killed under a state law passed in 1990. The threat of mountain lions has become an increasing problem in Southern California as development encroaches upon rural areas that have been home to various animals. Updike estimates there are between 4,000 and 6,000 adult lions roaming the Golden State. But there are usually between five and seven mountain lions per 100 square miles, he said. "They have an innate diversion to people, but what causes them to attack people we just don't know," Updike said. Armed sheriff's deputies escorted firefighters and paramedics to the victims because of the potential danger, Miller said. State Fish and Game officials also searched for the mountain lion late Thursday. The park is adjacent to the communities of Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills and Cleveland National Forest.