A cougar mauled a 4-year-old child walking with their family at Olympic National Park, the National Park Service said in a news release.

"I don't think that kid would survive if it wasn't for his dad jumping in," hiker Steve Murrow told KIRO 7. "He's a hero."

Rangers immediately started searching for the cougar and by Monday, park staff had “dispatched the animal,” the statement said using a term that generally refers to killing an animal.