Two brothers were attacked Saturday by a cougar in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, in northern California, as a result of which the older one was killed and the second one was seriously injured.

The two brothers were looking for deer antlers in a remote wooded area near Georgetown, El Dorado County, northeast of Sacramento.

According to an update from the county sheriff’s office, the 18-year-old was separated from his brother during the attack and managed to call for help despite suffering serious head injuries. A short time later, sheriff’s deputies spotted the feline on top of the 21-year-old’s body and fired shots to scare it off. When they rushed to the unfortunate youth’s side, they found that he was already dead.

Game rangers later tracked down the wild animal and killed it, the sheriff’s office said.

The 18-year-old underwent consecutive surgeries and according to hospital sources, his life is not in danger.

Cougars (or cougars, as they are also known) are usually solitary predators that live in mountainous regions of the western US states and Canada. They feed mainly on deer and rodents, while their attacks on humans are relatively rare.

According to American reports, this is the first fatal attack by a cougar on a person in California in 20 years. The previous one was recorded in January 2004, when a cyclist was killed in an Orange County park, south of Los Angeles.