Mountain Lion Incidents Occurred Prior to a Fatal Colorado Attack

In the months before a deadly mountain lion attack in Glen Haven, Colorado, locals in the area reported a series of encounters with big cats.

From October through December, mountain lions killed pets, stalked hikers, and even approached a trail runner, who was forced to chase one lion off with a stick.

“I had to fight it off because it was basically trying to maul me,” the runner, named Gary Messina, told The Associated Press. “I was scared for my life and I wasn’t able to escape. I tried backing up and it would try to lunge at me.”

The encounters prompted Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to post temporary sandwich board-style signs at the Crosier Mountain trailhead warning of mountain lion activity.

“We do the same thing when there’s an increase in encounters with moose and bears,” Kara Van Hoose, a spokesperson for CPW, told Outside. “It’s an extra level of knowledge for people who choose to recreate in the area that mountain lions are in the area. They can make their own decision on whether or not to recreate there.”

The temporary signs were in place on January 1, when a woman named Kristen Marie Kovatch, 46, was hiking solo along the Crosier Mountain Trail when she was fatally attacked by a mountain lion.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, two hikers walking along the trail encountered the mountain lion next to Kovatch’s body. After scaring off the animal, one of the hikers, a physician, attempted to revive Kovatch, but did not find a pulse.

The incident kicked off an investigation by the agency and law enforcement. CPW officers tracked two different mountain lions after the incident. According to a CPW release, officers shot one mountain lion at the scene, and then tracked and killed a second lion in the same area.

A necropsy on one of the cats, a one-year-old male, found human DNA on all four paws. The other lion, a female, did not show signs of human DNA on its paws, CPW said in a release. CPW tracked a third lion but did not locate it.

Kovatch’s death is the sixth reported incident involving a mountain lion in the area since October, CPW said.

• October 28: In Estes Park, a man was hiking with his dog off-leash when a mountain lion attacked and killed the pet.
• October 29: A woman hiking with her dog off-leash near Glen Haven was surprised by a mountain lion, which attacked and killed the pet.
• November 12: A man named Gary Messina was running along the Crosier Mountain Trail when a mountain lion approached him. Messina chased the mountain lion off with a tree branch.
• November 30: A man and woman were hiking on Crosier Mountain Trail when they encountered two mountain lions. One lion got in front of the couple while the other stayed behind them. The couple chased the lions off by throwing rocks and shouting.
• December 23: A man in Glen Haven shot and killed a mountain lion that was attacking his dog.

Van Hoose told Outside that CPW posted extra signs at the Crosier Mountain trailhead after the November 12 incident, but removed the signs several weeks later.

The signs returned after the December 23 incident, she said.

Van Hoose said CPW often places signs and warns the public when human-predator encounters increase along a trail. Officials rarely close trails due to predator sightings, she said.

“You would need staff there to enforce the closure,” she said. “When we close trails on state park land, those closures aren’t always respected.”

The January 1 attack occurred within the boundaries of the Roosevelt-Arapaho National Forest.

Kovatch’s death has generated a glut of national attention. Although Colorado has a thriving mountain lion population, attacks on humans are rare. The last fatal attack occurred in 1999, when a three-year-old boy named Jaryd Atadero went missing on a family hike outside of Fort Collins. His remains were found nearly four years later, and authorities said they showed signs of predation.

Mountain lion attacks on humans are extremely rare in Colorado. According to CPW, there have been just 28 reported attacks on people since 1991.