Man in Colorado kills mountain lion with shovel at campground

The man told CPW investigators that the lion was acting aggressively and that he killed it in self-defense.

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. — A man used a shovel to kill a mountain lion at a campground in Fremont County last week, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said on Wednesday.

CPW said they were called to a campground west of Cañon City on Saturday, Sept. 26. A CPW officer arrived and found a man who had the body of the lion on the hood of his Jeep.

The man told the officer he had killed the mountain lion the night before, after it approached him and his dog while they were outside their recreational vehicle, according to a news release from CPW.

The man said his dog, a husky, began growling and barking as the cat approached. The dog engaged the lion when it got within about 10 feet. That’s when the man said he grabbed the shovel and hit the lion on the head, killing it, CPW said.

The wildlife officer’s preliminary finding is that the man feared for his life and acted in self-defense due to the lion acting extremely aggressive and unusual, CPW said.

The mountain lion that was killed was a female and weighed around 95 pounds. The cat had an injury to its right front paw and scratches on its back, according to wildlife officials. The lion’s body was sent an animal health lab for a necropsy.

Because the man did not suffer any injuries and was not touched by the lion, CPW said this incident is not considered an attack.

Wildlife officials said there have only been 25 mountain lion attacks on humans in Colorado since 1990.