Human DNA was found on all four paws of a 1-year-old male mountain lion after it killed a 46-year-old hiker in northern Colorado on New Year’s Day, officials said Monday afternoon.
An autopsy conducted by the Larimer County Coroner’s Office confirmed that the injuries sustained by Kristen Marie Kovatch were consistent with a mountain lion attack. Her death is the first fatal mountain lion attack in Colorado in more than 25 years.
Following the attack, Colorado Parks and Wildlife euthanized two mountain lions. The second animal, a 1-year-old female, did not have any human DNA on its paws, the agency said.
Kovatch, 46, was hiking alone on a remote section of the Crosier Mountain Trail in a national forest south of the community of Glen Haven. The area is known to be home to many mountain lions. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said five reports of sightings and attacks had been made in the area in the nine weeks before Kovatch was killed.
In a social media post Monday, Kovatch’s brother said she was from Texas and lived in Fort Collins, and that she “died doing something she loved deeply, hiking and taking in the beauty of Colorado and its public lands.”
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, two hikers encountered a mountain lion near Kovatch’s body and threw rocks at the animal to scare it away so they could try to help her. One of the hikers, a physician, attended to Kovatch but did not find a pulse.
The coroner’s office listed her cause of death as asphyxia due to “external neck compression.”
Wildlife officers initially searched for a third mountain lion but called off the effort after staff and houndsmen with trained dogs searched for more than 72 hours without finding fresh tracks or scents, the agency said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife suspects the mountain lions were part of a family group based on “multiple lions present at the attack and evidence found at the scene.”
“It is very unlikely that these lions were in such close proximity to the scene by coincidence,” Mark Leslie, regional manager for CPW’s Northeast Region, said in a statement. “This is not a decision we take lightly. CPW is charged with protecting human safety. Given the gravity of this situation and the rarity of this type of behavior, this was a necessary, if unfortunate action.”
The Crosier Mountain Trail has reopened to the public. The agency said permanent signage warning of mountain lion activity and advising hikers on how to respond to encounters has been in place along the trail for years.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife detailed five reported mountain lion sightings and incidents in the Glen Haven area since late October:
- Oct. 28: A mountain lion attacked and killed a dog hiking off-leash with its owner in Estes Park. The incident was reported to CPW on Nov. 20.
- Oct. 29: A woman hiking with her dog off-leash on West Creek Road in Larimer County reported that a mountain lion appeared and took her dog. The incident was reported the next day. A CPW officer searched the area but did not find any lions.
- Nov. 11: A man running on a Crosier Mountain trail was approached by a mountain lion. He hazed the animal with a tree branch and threw objects at it. The incident was reported the same day, but CPW officers were unable to locate any lions. Signs warning of increased mountain lion activity were placed but later removed after a few weeks, the agency said.
- Nov. 30: A man and a woman hiking near the Crosier Mountain Trail summit reported seeing two mountain lions, one in front of them and one behind. No physical contact occurred. The sighting was reported to CPW on Dec. 1, and officers were unable to locate any lions. A temporary warning sign was placed at the trailhead.
- Dec. 23: A man living off County Road 43 in Glen Haven found a mountain lion attacking his dog in his yard. He killed the 3-year-old adult male lion and reported the incident to CPW the following day. CPW investigated and issued no citations. A necropsy found no abnormalities, and CPW biologists said the lion’s age indicated it was not a parent of either of the lions euthanized on Jan. 1.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said any mountain lion sightings or conflicts should be reported immediately by contacting the Denver office at 303-291-7227, the Fort Collins office at 970-472-4300, or the Colorado State Patrol at *CSP (*277).
