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Puma on a tree (symbolic picture): Attack on a child
Photo: Nature in Stock / imago images
A 9-year-old girl was attacked and injured by a cougar in Washington state.
The child survived the attack.
The girl was camping with her family in the northeast of the state, reports the AP news agency.
The girl was walking along a path with two friends near the village of Fruitland on Saturday morning, where the puma attacked her.
The girl fought back, the friends ran for their lives.
Adults rushed to help and found the nine-year-old covered in blood.
She was flown to a hospital.
She was operated on there.
Cougar dead
The girl's uncle reports that the nine-year-old suffered "numerous injuries to her upper body and face" in the Puma attack.
On Monday she woke up from the coma.
The uncle launched an appeal for donations on the online platform GoFundMe to collect money for his niece's treatment costs.
He also published photos of the girl on the hospital bed.
The cougar was killed by a local human after the attack.
According to the Washington State Department of Wildlife Conservation, its carcass will be examined to see if the animal was ill.
Attacks by the cougars native to the American continent are rare.
According to the local nature conservation agency, only 20 people have been killed in puma attacks in Washington state since 1924, and two attacks were fatal.
Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Staci Lehman said the girl did nothing wrong: "It happened so quickly and there's nothing she could have done to prevent it." Who on a cougar should yell at the animal and try to make itself bigger.
If the puma attacks, you should fight back and try to stay on your feet.
'Don't turn around.
Keep your eyes on the animal," Lehman said. "Don't run away."
ptz/AFP
