Cougar attacks group of 5 cyclists on Washington bike trail leaving 1 woman hospitalized

A cougar attacked a group of five cyclists on a bike trail in Washington on Saturday afternoon, wildlife officials said.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife received a report of a "human-cougar" incident with documented injuries on a trail northeast of Fall City, Washington in King County, the agency said in a news release Sunday morning.

According to the WDFW, the five cyclists were attacked by a cougar and an adult female had to be hospitalized to be treated for her injuries. The woman is in stable condition, according to the news release.

Wildlife officials officers removed one "subadult cougar" upon arriving at the scene, the WDFW said, and eyewitness accounts indicated there may be a second cougar. The WDFW said it enlisted the help of a houndsman on Saturday but did not find a second cougar near the scene.

As of 2022, the WDFW estimates there are approximately 3,600 cougars in Washington state, according to the agency's website.

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Are cougar attacks common?

No, cougar attacks on humans are "extremely rare," according to the WDFW's website.

The agency says there have been two fatal cougar attacks and approximately 20 other recorded encounters that resulted in human injury in the last 100 years.