A cougar at Olympic National Park in Washington attacked a four-year-old visiting with his family this weekend, park officials said.

Rangers found and killed the big cat Monday.

The victim and his family were walking on a popular trail at the park Sunday afternoon when the cougar attacked. Clallam County, Washington, paramedics and park rangers responded and airlifted the injured child for treatment at a trauma center.

Park officials did not identify the victim or his family. Witnesses credited the child’s father with saving his life.

“I don’t think that kid would survive if it wasn’t for his dad jumping in. I mean, he’s a hero. You know, it just boils down to safety in numbers and it is rare that something like this would happen,” Steve Murrow, who was hiking in the area on Sunday and talked to witnesses after the attack, told Seattle’s KIRO-TV.

Rangers found the mountain lion, which was wearing a tracking collar, later on Sunday, but did not kill it until Monday, park officials said.

Harborview Medical Center in Seattle told KIRO-TV that they treated the child and that he was discharged in “satisfactory condition.”

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.