Colorado wildlife authorities ended a four-day search for mountain lions Monday after killing two of the predators near the trail where a Fort Collins woman was fatally attacked on New Year’s Day, though a third lion spotted in the area was never found.
Kristen Marie Kovatch, 46, died of asphyxia caused by neck compression, the Larimer County Coroner’s Office said in a statement Monday. Her injuries were consistent with a mountain lion attack, and her death was ruled an accident.
The attack on the Crosier Mountain trail, east of Rocky Mountain National Park, was the first fatal mountain lion encounter in Colorado since the late 1990s and the fourth killing in North America over the past decade — a reminder of the risks posed by a predator whose estimated population in the state ranges from 3,800 to 4,400 animals.
Search concludes with two lions killed, one confirmed
Wildlife officers shot and killed two mountain lions in the area on the afternoon of Jan. 1, hours after Kovatch’s body was discovered. A necropsy revealed that one of those animals, a male, had human DNA on all four of its paws, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said Monday. The other lion showed no signs of human DNA.
The search for a third mountain lion spotted near the scene stretched over four days with no further sign of the animal. Hiking trails in the area were closed while the search was ongoing.
How the body was found
Two hikers discovered Kovatch’s body on the trail southeast of the community of Glen Haven at around noon on Jan. 1. A mountain lion was present nearby; the hikers threw rocks to drive it away. One of the hikers, a physician, attended to Kovatch but could not find a pulse, state officials said.
Kovatch lived in Fort Collins, about an hour’s drive from the attack site.
Her family remembered her as an ultramarathon runner who died doing what she loved. “We are devastated by the sudden and tragic loss of our beloved Kristen,” the family said in a statement. “Our family is struggling to comprehend this heartbreaking moment.”
Recent encounters in the same area
The fatal attack was one of several mountain lion encounters east of Rocky Mountain National Park in recent months, according to Van Hoose. In November, a man from Glen Haven running on the same Crosier Mountain trail was rushed aggressively by a mountain lion; he fought it off with a stick. In two other recent encounters, mountain lions killed dogs being walked by their owners, Van Hoose said.
Mountain lions in Colorado
Mountain lions — also known as cougars, pumas or catamounts — can weigh up to 130 pounds (60 kilograms) and grow to more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) in length. They primarily eat deer. Colorado classifies the animals as a big game species; they can be legally hunted in the state.