A Canadian mother has fought off a cougar with her bare hands after it pinned down her three-year old daughter in a forest. The child escaped with only superficial wounds after the attack near the town of Brackendale, 40 miles north of the western city of Vancouver.

The cougar, an adult male, was tracked down and killed by conservation officers.

The girl's father told public broadcaster CBC that his daughter thought the wild cat wanted to play.

The girl and her mother were walking on a wooded trail with their dog when the cougar pounced.

"She was on her back and (the cougar) had his paws on her head, and I just knew I had to react quick.

"So I just jumped in there and wedged myself between the cougar and her on the ground." The mother then threw the big cat off her back, grabbed her daughter and ran.

Her child suffered puncture wounds to her left arm and head, but was reportedly recovering well.

Conservation officers used dogs to track down several cougars in the area after more than 30 encounters with the big cats were reported in the past 10 days, CBC said.