“Bravest Girl On Earth!” That was the title of a recent Facebook post about nine-year-old Lily Kryzhanivskyy, who accompanied biologists conducting a mountain lion study not even four weeks after a lion brutally attacked her.
Lily and two other children were playing hide-and-seek in late May while attending a camp near Fruitland, Washington, when a mountain lion suddenly attacked. She went to a nearby hospital and received more than 400 stitches. Her caretakers called her recovery “amazing.” The young male mountain lion was killed at the scene.
“We are extremely thankful for this little girl’s resiliency and we’re impressed with her spunk, in the face of this unfortunate encounter,” said Capt. Mike Sprecher of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police. “It happened fast and we are thankful that the adults at the camp responded so quickly.”
In late June, Lily and her father accepted an invitation to accompany a biologist with the Kalispel Tribe of Indians and a houndsman. They captured a mountain lion as part of an ongoing study and Lily removed its collar prior to its release back into the forest.
(Photo source: Stevens County Sheriff’s Office)