A young boy has died after a cougar attacked him in Guadalupe Siete Cerros, a community in San Francisco Chapulapa, located in the Cañada region of Oaxaca.
Local media outlets reported that Gabriel Trovamala, 12, went out into the fields to check the crops on August 1 when he was attacked. Trovamala, a member of the Mazateca indigenous community, died of internal bleeding.
Local residents said there have been attacks against livestock and one adult, who was unharmed. They attribute all the attacks to the same animal.
Though the director of the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas (Conanp) asked that people not demonize the large cats, the Mazateca community has organized the placement of traps and plans to hunt the animal down, hoping to prevent another attack.
Oaxaca is home to five of Mexico’s six wild cat species: jaguars, cougars, ocelots, lynxes and jaguarundi all inhabit the mountainous state, according to Conanp.
With reports from El Universal and Televisa
