Cougar Mauls Boy, Kills His Mother

VANCOUVER, B.C. - A cougar mauled a Canadian woman to death earlier this week after she intervened to save her 6-year-old son, who was being attacked.

Cindy Parolin, 36, was horseback riding with her three children in the southern British Columbia interior Monday night, when a cougar sprang from the bush. The boy was thrown from his horse and the cougar began mauling him. Parolin tried to beat it with a stick and the cat then turned on her, police said.

A camper found Parolin by following her cries for help. The man managed to scare the cougar off after shooting it.

Parolin was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital in Princeton, 120 miles east of Vancouver. The boy was in stable condition with severe lacerations to his head and puncture wounds on his back.

The cougar was tracked and killed by wildlife officials.