A woman was rescued by her friends after a cougar “latched on to her” and inflicted injuries on her face and neck – with the group pinning the animal down with a bicycle.

The 60-year-old was cycling in a group of five when she was attacked by the animal on a mountain trail near Fall City in Washington State on Saturday afternoon.

Carlo Pace, an officer with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, told local media that the friends were able to “pin down a good size lion with its claws and teeth and everything else under a mountain bike until we arrived” – and had “a struggle with this animal”.

He added: “They did fight back. If it wasn’t for these people the lady that was attacked would be in much worse shape.”

Mr Pace said the group were riding near a creek that is a cougar’s “natural place” to follow prey.

“These bicyclists happened to be in that place,” he added. “Wrong place, wrong time.”

The woman has since been released from hospital, while the cougar was shot dead and killed by wildlife police.

Middle East latest: ‘Successful scalp’ by Houthis as ship packed with fertiliser taking on water; US shifts position on ceasefire

Why is Julian Assange in court again – and what might happen if he’s extradited to the US?

Donald Trump breaks silence on Alexei Navalny’s death – but makes no mention of Vladimir Putin

Witnesses reportedly saw a second cougar running through the area at the time of the attack. Officers failed to locate the animal during a search.

Read more from Sky News:
Russian helicopter pilot who defected shot dead
‘Most violent’ object in universe discovered
Former Strictly Come Dancing star dies

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said officers removed a 34kg (75lbs) cougar from the scene – and its body was being sent to a local university lab for examination.

Officials expect to learn the cougar’s age, body condition and whether it had a disease, the department said.

Mr Pace said cougars typically keep away from people, adding that there have been 22 fatal cougar attacks in Washington state – including two that were fatal – in the last century.

In July 2023, an eight-year-old on a camping trip in Olympic National Park in Washington sustained minor injuries in a cougar attack.

Related posts:

Just one house left unscathed on land scorched by California’s largest single forest fire CNN fires Chris Cuomo for helping governor brother who faced sexual harassment claims US imposes ‘Russia-like’ sanctions on Ireland’s notorious Kinahan crime gang Trump watched Capitol riots on TV in White House dining room instead of intervening, investigation hears Man dies after getting stuck inside bakery’s walk-in freezer ‘False narrative’ to claim extracting more fossil fuels will be necessary for energy security – John Kerry Why US midterms are likely to have a profound affect on women’s rights in America Facebook and Instagram owner Meta to lay off another 10,000 staff NFL star was drugged, blackmailed and robbed before his death, lawsuit claims Murderer who escaped prison has stolen a van and changed his appearance, US police say Police investigating New York kidnapping suspect’s ‘possible links to unsolved murders’ First US spacecraft to land on moon since Apollo due to lift off on Monday