Friends scare cougar away

LOS ANGELES — A woman was attacked by a mountain lion while hiking in central California but was rescued when her friends stabbed the animal with a knife and threw rocks at it, officials said.

Shannon Parker lost her right eye, was injured in her other eye and suffered deep lacerations on her right thigh during the attack Saturday, officials with the California Department of Fish and Game said.

Parker, 27, of Santa Monica, Calif., was transferred to UCLA Medical Center, where she underwent reconstructive surgery Sunday morning, Fish and Game Department spokesman Steve Martarano said.

Parker’s family asked UCLA not to release her condition, hospital spokeswoman Rachel Shampeau said.

Parker was hiking with three male friends about 20 miles north of Kernville when the 70-pound female mountain lion attacked her, Martarano said.

The animal left a bloody trail as it fled, and later it was shot and killed by U.S. Forest Service officers and state game wardens, Martarano said.

The mountain lion “appeared to be emaciated,” and officials will do a necropsy today to determine whether it was sick or injured, Martarano said.

A 2002 wildfire in the area may have hampered the animal’s ability to find enough food, he said.

Martarano said the incident was only the 15th mountain-lion attack on a human in California since 1890.