A mountain lion with a tracking collar attacked a four-year-old child on an Olympic National Park trail on Sunday (Picture: Getty Images)

A four-year-old was enjoying a hike with family at a popular US national park when a mountain lion suddenly attacked and injured the child.

The family was near Victoria Overlook on Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park in Washington state on Sunday when the animal pounced.

National Park Service rangers responded around 3.15pm.

‘According to initial reports, a collared mountain lion bit a child walking with their family on a popular trail,’ stated the park service.

The animal attack happened on Sunday at Olympic National Park (Credits: Getty Images)

Park staff and paramedics with Clallam County Fire District 2 rushed to the scene and airlifted the child to a nearby trauma center. The child is being treated at a hospital in Seattle, and their condition was not immediately known.

Park officials said they would not be releasing more details on the victim for the time being to protect their privacy.

Right after the attack, rangers started looking for the big cat, with the canine team joining around 5pm that day. Rangers spotted the animal with a tracking collar shortly after the canines were sent out, but did not complete the operation.

Park staff found and ‘dispatched the animal’, meaning they killed it, on Monday and stated that there was no threat to the public.

Park officials found and killed the mountain lion that attacked the child (Picture: Getty Images)

The incident is being investigated.

US Fish and Wildlife Service lists 10 things people can do to stay safe in mountain lion habitats. The agency advises anyone who encounters a cougar to make themselves appear large and throw stones or branches, and never run past one or crouch down because those are behaviors of prey.

‘Educate them about cougars and other wildlife they might encounter.’

Olympic National Park is one of the most popular national parks in the US (Credits: Getty Images)

The attack happened five days after a small plane crashed in a remote area of the same park, killing one person and leaving the two others on board injured.

Olympic National Park ranked the tenth most visited national park in America in 2023, with 2.96million guests recorded, according to the outdoors company KÜHL.

‘Encompassing nearly a million acres, the park protects a vast wilderness, thousands of years of human history, and several distinctly different ecosystems, including glacier-capped mountains, old-growth temperate rain forests, and over 70 miles of wild coastline,’ states the park service.

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