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CNN Live Today

Man Survives Vicious Cougar Attack

Aired August 05, 2002 - 13:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Frightening account now out of Vancouver Island, Canada. A man was out for an evening stroll when a hungry cougar jumped from behind.

CTV's Kate Corcoran tells us how she managed -- how he managed, rather, to survive and what we might learn from this attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE CORCORAN, CTV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This once healthy, 90 pound male cougar started a fight, by all accounts, he should have won. With weapons like these, he nearly did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it surprises that anybody could fight off one, actually. Because, you know, with him being a cat, so strong and you know, they are heavy duty animals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So of any chances, he would be one guy that would have fought one off.

CORCORAN: Sixty-two-year-old Dave Parker is alive because of a three and half inch hunting knife he had tucked in his pocket. Early Thursday evening, the retired mill (ph) worker was walking on this isolated logging road in Port Alice, alone. A cougar pounced from behind, tearing Parker's scalp, face, and upper body.

DAVE PARKER, ATTACK SURVIVOR: People will be walking around with their little bats and their little knives for the next month and then we will go back to the way we were, of just wandering around like they don't exist.

CORCORAN (on camera): Cougars don't act impulsively. An adult cougar will track its pray for miles, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce. Any conservation officer will tell you, a cat attacks for one reason.

KEN FUJINO, CONSERVATION OFFICER: You fight back, you try to look at big as you can, make lots of noise, if you have sticks or something, beat the cougar off. Definitely fight cougars.

CORCORAN: Why?

FUJINO: Cougars attack people, for like you said, for food.

PARKER: We are all nervous today. The reality has come back again.

CORCORAN (voice-over): Residents of Port Alice have reason to be nervous. The north end of Vancouver Island is cougar country, and Parker is the fourth human to be attacked by one in two years. With the deer population on the rise, conservation officers are crossing their fingers, hoping these beautiful yet lethal creatures will have no reason to target man.

Kate Corcoran, CTV News, Port Alice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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