Cougar Attacks Seven Year Old Boy, Mother Pries Its Jaw Open

A mountain lion known as P-22, in the Griffith Park area near downtown Los Angeles in November 2014. U.S. National Park Service via AP

LAKE COWICHAN—The father of a 7-year-old boy who was attacked by a cougar in a small lakeside community on Vancouver Island is crediting his wife’s quick actions for his son’s survival.

Kevin Bromley says his son Zach was playing in the family’s backyard in Lake Cowichan, B.C., on Friday, March 31, when a cougar leaped toward him but banged into a fence before clawing its way through.