Mountain Lion Attacks Boy in Texas Park

Six-year-old said he didn’t cry after big cat slashed his face.

A 6-year-old boy is recovering after a mountain lion “clamped” on to his face at Big Bend National Park in Texas.

Jason Hobbs said his family’s vacation became a nightmare when the big cat attacked his son Rivers on a sidewalk Sunday near the Chisos Mountain Lodge.

"It had a hold of his face...the cat was clamped on his face,” Hobbs told West Texas TV station CBS 7.

The Austin dad said the mountain lion didn’t let go until he stabbed it with his pocketknife.

Rivers Hobbs told CBS 7 the mountain lion “snuck up on me.”

Despite being shown on TV with fresh stiches across his gashed face, Rivers claimed he never shed a tear before or after the encounter.

Asked about his injuries, Rivers said they did not hurt “that bad.”

Big Ben spokesman David Elkowitz described the mountain lion that attacked the 6-year-old as a “young lion in very poor condition,” The Associated Press reported.

The mountain lion was still on the loose, he said, and would be killed if found.
 

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