In our age of advanced technology and comfortable living, it’s easy to overlook our intrinsic connection to the natural world. As part of this ecosystem, humans, like any other species, are susceptible to predators. While it’s rare for humans to be targeted thanks to predators generally avoiding us, apex predators can occasionally view humans—particularly those who are alone and unarmed on trails—as potential prey.

This unfortunate scenario seems to have played out in Colorado, where a solo hiker was reportedly attacked on a mountain trail last Thursday.

Mountain lions, also known by various names such as cougars, pumas, and panthers, carry the scientific name Puma concolor. These creatures are intriguing from a biological perspective, as they don’t belong to the genus Panthera, which includes the recognized big cats like lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards. Instead, mountain lions are classified as “large small cats,” sharing closer ties with the South American jaguarundi and the African cheetah. As apex predators in their habitats, mountain lions primarily hunt deer, which are similar in size to humans.

Following the discovery of the woman’s body, authorities have euthanized two mountain lions in the vicinity.

The ongoing investigation aims to confirm the predator responsible, focusing on analyzing the stomach contents of the euthanized cats to gather evidence.

Messina said he threw his phone at the animal, kicked dirt and yelled as the lion kept trying to circle behind him. After a couple of harrowing minutes he broke a bat-sized stick off a downed log, hit the lion in the head with it and it ran off, he said.

The woman whose body was found Thursday on the same Crosier Mountain trail had “wounds consistent with a mountain lion attack,” said Kara Van Hoose with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Officials were awaiting confirmation.

Mountain lions (also called cougars, pumas, and panthers), Puma concolor, are something of a biological oddity; they’re technically not a “big” cat, which are of the genus Panthera. That includes lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards. Mountain lions are known as a “large small cat,” being more closely related to the South American jaguarundi and the African cheetah. But they are, in their range, apex predators, and deer are a common prey. Humans, of course, are more or less in the same size range as deer.

Two cats have been killed in the area since the as-yet unnamed woman’s body was found.

Wildlife officials later tracked down and killed two mountain lions in the area — one at the scene and another nearby. A necropsy will determine if either or both of those animals attacked the woman.

A search for a third mountain lion reported in the area was ongoing Friday, Van Hoose said. Trails in the area remained closed while the hunt for the animal continued. Van Hoose said circumstances would dictate whether that lion also is killed.

The investigation, which will include examining the stomach contents of the two cats that have already been killed, is ongoing.