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To Chris Oberholtz, FOX Weather

March 22, 2023 | 2:48 PM

A rafters group in Arizona had to paddle in a deadly battle with a mountain lion.

Gila County officials are urging caution after last week’s attacks in remote areas of the White Mountain Apache Preserve.

The attack “occurred in a particularly remote area in White Mountain Apache Nation on the north side of the Salt River, 21 miles downstream from the Salt River Bridge,” said JC Castaneda, Gila County Animal Care Management Program Manager. increase.

A 64-year-old New Mexico man injured in the March 16 attack is still in severe pain but is expected to survive, Castaneda added.

When the lion attacked its victim, ten other rafters used rafting paddles to try to repel it. Eventually they kept the lions at bay while other campers rafted to safety.

According to Castaneda, the White Mountain Apache tribe we USDA hunters with hounds have followed the lion’s tracks from the site of the attack to another area and are now trying to locate the lion.

As of Monday, authorities had not found it.

Castaneda said it was important for people to take additional precautions, such as avoiding wildlife and other unknown animals that may have been previously exposed to rabies. We urge you to refrain from feeding animals.