Sunday, July 30 2023. Hurricane Ridge and parts of Olympic National Park are closed due to a rare cougar attack on an 8 year old boy at Lake Angeles on Saturday night July 29 2023. ONP is closed in an area approximately 10 miles in diameter around Lake Angeles. On the Hurricane Ridge Road, the closure starts at the Hurricane Ridge Road park entrance station, which necessarily closes access to the Hurricane Ridge parking lot.
Closed trails include the Lake Angeles and Heather Park trails (top-to-bottom from the entrance station area), and in the high country the Switchback and Klahane Ridge trails,.
The Hurricane Ridge Road entrance station is five miles up the mountain from the ONP visitor center, and about 7 miles from Highway 101 and Race street in Port Angeles. It is not known at this time if the Heart of the Hills campground is closed.
According to an ONP press release, the boy and his family were camping at Lake Angeles, which is 3.5 miles up the trail from the trailhead near the entrance station. The cougar casually abandoned its attack after the boy’s mother yelled and screamed at the cat. Park Rangers were immediately dispatched and stabilized the boys condition, and then provided safe escort back to the trailhead. The boy suffered minor physical injuries which treated at a local hospital.
At 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning, ONP law enforcement and wildlife personnel specializing in cougar tracking, with dogs, were dispatched to locate the cougar. If found, the cougar will be euthenized and a necropsy performed to see if the cause of the attack can be determined.
Cougar attacks, especially in Olympic National Park are extremely rare. It’s even rare to see a cougar in the park. The last attack documented in local news reports was approximately 33 years ago. In recent years there have been cougar attacks on Vancouver Island and in foothills east of Seattle. Those attacks are usually by adolescent cougars. A person in Oregon was dragged off their bike and killed by a cougar in mountains in Oregon.
No bear attacks on humans have ever been reported in Olympic National Park, according to local news sources. ONP only has black bears. Brown bears and grizzly bears attack people every year, however, neither of these types of bears exist in ONP. In other parts of the United States and Canada, there have been a few reports of black bear attacks. A food-conditioned black bear on Vancouver Island, Canada, attacked an elderly sheep and ripped into four tents (which presumably had food in them) two days ago. On June 17 2023, a black bear in Arizona attacked and killed Steven Jackson, a 66 year old man. He was camping at his rural property while he was building a home.
Bear spray may be effective to prevent cougar attacks, as seen in several videos on YouTube. Cougars are normally extremely reclusive animals and tend to avoid humans. However, cougar scat is regularly seen throughout the Hurricane Ridge area, including on dirt and paved trails.
Cougars are the only North American lion. They are also known as mountain lions, pumas, and panthers such as the Florida black panther.
Approximately 33 years ago, a teenager was attacked by a cougar in Olympic National Park. He was riding his bike down the old hurricane ridge road, now known as the Wolf Creek trail which ends at the Whiskey Bend trailhead. He was was taking a break when he was attacked. The teenager happened to be a wrestler on the Port Angeles High School team, and he wrestled the cougar, eventually putting the cat into a full Nelson hold. A full Nelson involves the wrestler getting behind the opponents body and wrapping both arms under the armpits (front “arms” in this case) and interlocking the fingers on the opponents neck. This move immobilized wrestling opponents, and it worked on the cat. Once immobilized, the teenage wrestler and the cat sat for a few moments in stillness, listening to each other’s breath. When the wrestler finally let go, the cat took off running and the wrestler continued home safely with only minor injuries. (If you were that teenager, please contact ClallamCountyBar.) This story was published in the Peninsula Daily News paper (long before the internet was a thing).
ClallamCountyBar.com wishes the boy and his mother a full recovery from the trauma of this experience.
This article will be updated as new information is available. At the time of publication, ONP has released a press release but has not posted any news announcements but presumably will at their news page.