p. 403

I documented 9 fatal attacks and 44 nonfatal attacks resulting in 10 human deaths and 48 nonfatal injuries."

p. 407

Cougar attacks have clearly increased during the last 2 decades, despite some possibly undocumented nonfatal attacks during the early years. There were more fatal attacks during the last 20 years (5) than during the previous 80 years (4).

Twenty of the 53 attacks (38%) occurred on Vancouver Island (British Columbia), a 30,000 km2 island with 300,000 human residents. There were 10 attacks in mainland British Columbia, 5 in Texas, 4 in California, 3 each in Alberta and Colorado, 2 each in Arizona, Montana, and Washington, and 1 each in New Mexico and Nevada.

Thirty-seven of 58 victims (64%) were children (<=16 years old)… . Using 5-year age classes, the modal age class of known-age victims was 5-9 years (19 victims)…. OF 37 children, 35% were alone, 43% were in groups of children, and 22% were accompanied by adults. Eleven of 17 adult victims were alone at the time of attack…. Except for 1 adult and 1 child who died of probable rabies resulting from a single attack, all fatalities were children unaccompanied by adults.

p. 408

aggressive responses by the human (shouting, swinging a stick, waving arms above the head, throwing rocks) clearly deterred the cougar from carrying out an attack. I discovered only 1 credible near-attack in which the intended victim escaped by panicked flight. In that case, a 16-year-old boy fled after encountering a cougar at 25 feet. The cougar was gaining ground rapidly when the boy’s boot fell off and the cougar attacked and ate the boot.

In at least 2 cases, running appeared to stimulate the cougar to select the victim out of a larger group.

The 4 cases in which a child’s head was in the cougar’s jaws (possibly inducing shock) seem equivalent to playing dead (see below). In all such cases, the cougar continued to bite the victim’s head or drag him by the head until another person came to assist. Twenty-six of the 29 remaining victims fought back with bare hands, a stick, a knife, a jacket, or a rock. These efforts usually succeeded in repelling the attack…. Most victims also shouted loudly, and loud shouts apparently did intimidate the cougar.

p. 409

Twelve of the 31 offending cougars were estimated to be 12-23 months of age; 1 was under 12 months of age. Seven of 9 attacking yearlings, 7 of 17 attacking adults, and 3 of 4 attackers of unknown age were markedly underweight.

Each year in the U.S. there are about 12 human deaths resulting from over 5,000 bites by rattlesnakes (Crotalus spp.), 40 deaths due to bee (Hymenoptera) stings, and 3 deaths due to bites of black widow spiders (Latrodectus spp.) (Weiss 1990). Dogs annually kill 18-20 people and inflict suture-requiring injuries on 200,000 U.S. residents (Sacks et al. 1989). In a single recent year (1979) there were 86 U.S. deaths due to lightning strikes (Natl. Center Health Stat. 1984:33-35).

Why so many more attacks recently?:

p. 410

cougar populations throughout the West probably increased during 1965-1980…. Simultaneously, human use of wildlands has grown, increasing the potential for encounters. It is also possible that the decreased persecution of cougars, along with the establishment of large wilderness areas free of hunting, may allow cougars to habituate to humans as a non-threatening part of their environment.

There is no compelling explanation for the striking concentration of attacks on Vancouver Island. One speculative line of reasoning (which I raise but do not advocate) stems from the observation that several prey species taken by cougars in other parts of North America are absent from Vancouver Island.

A lack of small prey may be especially critical for a yearling animal less proficient at taking deer, and may contribute to the increased attacks on humans on Vancouver Island.

Children are more vulnerable than adults

Aggressive responses appear to be effective in averting an imminent attack…. Running away from an aggressive cougar seems particularly futile.

p. 411

It is unlikely that sport hunting will remove enough cougars to reduce the risk…. Managers of wildlands, in consultation with legal staff, might consider using information reported here to offer advice that may reduce risk to the human visitors.