California wildlife officials have called off their search for a mountain lion that attacked a 5-year-old boy walking on a hiking trail in rural Northern California, saying there is little chance of catching the animal.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Friday that DNA testing confirmed a mountain lion was responsible for last Tuesday’s attack in San Mateo County, south of San Francisco.

But efforts to track down and capture the lion were hampered because investigators were denied access to private property near the site of the attack.

“The lack of access, combined with deteriorating weather and the nomadic nature of mountain lions, reduced the chances of a successful capture,” said Capt. Patrick Foy, a department spokesman.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, the boy was walking on a trail along Tunitas Creek Road and racing ahead of his mother, grandparents, when a large cat pounced on him and pinned him to the ground, authorities and family members said.

His mother, Susie Trexler, pounced on the cougar, which let go of the boy and ran away.

The boy was not bitten, Foy said. However, his face was scratched and he had a broken bone near his eye, his aunt Amy Wagner told the Chronicle.

He was treated at a local hospital.

Mountain lion attacks on people are rare. About 20 confirmed attacks have occurred in California in more than a century of records, and only three have been fatal, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Last September, a 7-year-old boy was bitten by a mountain lion while walking with his father at dusk in a park near Santa Clarita in Southern California. The father scared off the animal, and the child received relatively minor injuries.

The most recent incident before Tuesday occurred in September, when a cougar attacked a 7-year-old boy in Pico Canyon Park in Los Angeles County. That child also survived.