The July 20 mountain lion attack at Olympic National Park is being called one of the rarest and most alarming wildlife incidents in recent park history.

The 4-year-old victim had been walking with family along Hurricane Ridge, a popular trail with sweeping alpine views. At around 3:15 p.m., a collared cougar emerged from the brush and bit the child, sparking chaos. The child’s father intervened, reportedly wrestling the mountain lion off his son before it fled. Park rangers, medics, and a LifeFlight helicopter responded quickly. The boy was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, treated, and later released in stable condition.

Using trained dogs and GPS signals from the animal’s collar, rangers tracked the mountain lion. They euthanized it early the next morning.

Officials say cougar attacks are extremely rare in the Pacific Northwest. This was only the second attack in Olympic National Park in over a decade, and the first since a similar encounter in 2023.

Wildlife experts note that such incidents usually involve sick, starving, or juvenile cats. The cougar in this case was part of a regional study. A full necropsy is underway to determine if health, hunger, or other factors led to the attack.

Eyewitnesses described the father as a hero. “I don’t think that kid would survive if it wasn’t for his dad jumping in,” one hiker said. “I don’t think that kid would survive if it wasn’t for his dad jumping in,” one hiker said.

Park officials have temporarily closed parts of Hurricane Ridge as they assess trail safety. They remind visitors that cougar encounters, while frightening, remain rare. However, they are urging vigilance: hike in groups, stay near children, and never run from a mountain lion.

More broadly, conservation groups are pointing to a pattern. Human-wildlife interactions are on the rise in U.S. parks as urban development encroaches on habitat. Mountain lions, once heavily hunted, have rebounded in parts of the Pacific Northwest. Olympic Peninsula cougars, isolated by geography, may face pressures that drive them closer to humans.

The boy survived. The father acted without hesitation. And somewhere between those two facts lies a deeper story about coexistence, conservation, and the unpredictable wildness of America’s last truly untamed places.