Search ends for mountain lions after hiker fatally attacked on Colorado trail

The search for mountain lions along a remote trail in Colorado where a solo hiker was fatally attacked ended Monday, after authorities killed two of the predators last week but could not find a third.

The victim of the New Year's Day attack was identified as a 46-year-old woman from Fort Collins, about an hour's drive from the site of the attack on the Crosier Mountain trail east of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Victim Kristen Marie Kovatch died of asphyxia due to having her neck compressed, the Larimer County Coroner’s Office said in a statement Monday. The injuries were “consistent with a mountain lion attack" and Kovatch's death was ruled an accident, the coroner’s office said.

Two hikers saw Kovatch's body on a trail southeast of the community of Glen Haven, Colorado, at around noon on Jan. 1, state officials said. A mountain lion was nearby and they threw rocks to scare it away. One of the hikers, a physician, attended to the victim but did not find a pulse.

Later that day, two mountain lions located in the area around the attack were shot and killed by wildlife officers. The search for a third lion detected in the area stretched over four days with no further sign of the animal, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials.

Mountain lions — also known as cougars, pumas or catamounts — can weigh 130 pounds (60 kilograms) and grow to more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) long. They primarily eat deer.

Colorado has an estimated 3,800 to 4,400 mountain lions, which are classified as a big game species in the state and can be hunted.

A Glen Haven man running on the same trail where Kovatch was killed encountered a montain lion in November. He said it rushed him aggressively but he fought it off with a stick.