A British Columbia man fought off a cougar with only a spear, after it attacked and mauled his partner.
The incident took place on Sunday, while the pair were holidaying in their cabin, which is located just off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, on an island.
The 60-year-old woman who was set upon by the creature is now recovering in hospital and it is believed that she will make a full recovery. The body of the dead cougar , who has been described as large, was found on Monday morning.
An official has since remarked that the attack was the first instance where a man had successfully fought off a cougar with only a spear.
Local media has since added that the woman was attacked from behind by the creature as she gardened near the home. She then let out an almighty scream which lead to her common-law partner rushing down and saving her with the spear.
She was then taken to a hospital in the city of Victoria, and she has since been upgraded to a stable condition after initially being listed as critical.
Sergeant Ben York, a conservation officer, told the Vancouver Sun on Monday, “I’m pretty sure that this is the first time in [British Columbia], if not Canada and maybe even North America, where someone has stopped an attack by a cougar with a spear and killed it with a spear.”
He then added, “They did a quick survey of the incident scene and located where the woman was attacked, and then when they started their more detailed survey, they found the cat dead in the bush, probably about 20 to 25 metres from the attack scene.”
Conservation officials have since added that a necropsy will be performed on the animal, and they hope that it will reveal why the cougar attacked the woman.
[Image via Forest Wander Nature Photography via Wikimedia Commons]
