Girl, 4, snatched by mountain lion on camping trip

A four-year-old girl was snatched by a mountain lion during a camping trip in Idaho.

The girl was camping with her mother, siblings and cousins near Green Canyon Hot Springs, east of Rexburg, on 12 August when the incident occurred, reports the Daily Mail.

See also: Brave house cat squares up to mountain lion

See also: Mountain lion attacks boy playing in front garden

The family thought they saw a mountain lion when they were eating dinner but it disappeared and they thought nothing else of it.

The mother then put her daughter to bed in the tent before taking her six-year-old into the wood to go to the toilet.

They then heard a scream as the mountain lion had managed to get hold of the young girl.

Her grandfather, Jim Sevy, told the East Idaho News: "She got out of the tent because she couldn't find her shoe. That's when the mountain lion grabbed her and started carrying her away."

The girl's mother gave chase and the cougar released her. She was taken to hospital with bite marks and scratches but will recover.

Idaho Fish and Game spokesman Gregg Losinski said the cougar had been tracked and euthanised. No one in the state of Idaho has ever been killed by a mountain lion, and Losinski said attacks on humans were very rare but, when they do occur, small children are often targets.

Sevy said he realises the outcome could have been so much worse, adding: "It could have gone the other way so easily. She could have been gone and we would have never seen her. You really have to keep your eyes open when you're out camping."