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Man fought off a mountain lion weeks before a suspected fatal Colorado attack

Two mountain lions were euthanized after a fatal attack on a solo hiker on New Year's Day, with Colorado Parks and Wildlife investigating potential links to earlier encounters.

  • On Thursday a suspected mountain lion attack on the Crosier Mountain trail near Glen Haven around 12:15 p.m. left an unidentified woman dead; two hikers saw her body about 100 yards away.
  • In recent weeks, neighbors said they saw a female mountain lion and her cubs crossing toward a stream, and Gary Messina fought off a mountain lion on the same trail during a dark November morning.
  • Colorado Parks and Wildlife tracked down and euthanized two mountain lions—one at the scene and another nearby—while a necropsy will determine involvement and a reported third mountain lion is being sought Friday.
  • Friday trails near Crosier Mountain remained closed as investigators and Colorado Parks and Wildlife kept hikers away; officials had posted and removed warning signs and urged hikers to carry deterrents and travel in groups.
  • Colorado has an estimated 3,800 to 4,400 mountain lions, attacks on humans are rare with the last suspected fatal encounter in 1999, and about 15% of attacks are fatal.
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A woman has died after being attacked by a mountain lion on a Colorado hiking trail. Such attacks are considered extremely rare. The incident, if confirmed, would be the first such fatality in the state in decades.

·Vilnius, Lithuania
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Spectrum Local News broke the news in United States on Friday, January 2, 2026.
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