A cougar in central Washington State pushed a four-year-old boy to the ground while on a walk with his family through a park around 9 p.m. on Saturday.
Although the child went through a terrifying ordeal, the four-year-old survived with nothing but a few scratches at the nearby park, the Oregonian reported.
“Fortunately, the family had some dogs with them that they were able to turn loose that intervened and scared the cougar away,” Capt. Michael Jewell of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife told KOMO.
KREM reported that wildlife officials eventually stepped in to find the 125-pound cougar before killing it on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Officials closed the park earlier due to other reports of cougars roaming around the park.
Although attacks in mountainous areas may seem common, Washington state officials told KREM that only two people have died from similar attacks since 1924.