Mountain lion attacks five-year-old boy at Malibu park as witnesses say his father wrestled beast with his bare hands

A five-year-old boy was mauled by a mountain lion during a picnic with his family in a park campground.

The family was eating at Malibu Creek State Park, west of Los Angeles, about 4.30pm on Sunday when the animal struck.

The animal grabbed the child's head in its jaws and tried to run away with its prey before the boy's father wrestled him free.

About 40 people who were in the campground at the time were shocked that the mountain lion brazenly wandered into the crowded area and attacked.

'Somebody screamed the baby's name, and his dad started running,' a witness told KTLA.

 'The father grabbed the mountain lion with his hands, and he just fought. Then the mountain lion let go.'

California State Park Rangers along with police and firefighters responded to rescue the boy, who suffered injuries to his head and eyes.

He was airlifted to Northridge Hospital Medical Center and released on Sunday night, but later returned to the hospital to treat complications.

The mountain lion climbed a tree after the boy's father and others chased it off, and was still there when rangers found it.

The lion was determined to be a public-safety threat and fatally shot by a park ranger. 

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife collected evidence and samples from the boy's injuries and clothing, and matched it to the lion's DNA.