DENVER (Reuters) – A Colorado jogger strangled a juvenile mountain lion in your foothills of Horsetooth Mountain northwest of Denver, acting in self-defense once the predator attacked him, authorities said on Tuesday.
The man, that was not identified, survived the life-and-death struggle within the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, a mountain park a lot less than 70 miles (110 km) from Denver, officials said.
The man was running at a trail if your juvenile cougar attacked him from behind, biting and clawing his face, back, arms and legs, state and local officials said in a very joint statement late on Monday.
During the struggle, the male strangled the wild animal together with his bare hands, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Rebecca Ferrell said by phone on Tuesday.
“There seems to be some wrestling taking place and the cat did latch onto his arm but he been able to choke it,” she said.
The size the cougar was unclear, Ferrell said, because other animals fed around the carcass before wildlife officers arrived. But it is believed it has been a male.
The runner attended a hospital, officials said, with injuries which were serious and not life-threatening.
The remainder of the animal’s body was recovered next to the trail, that the jogger had dropped some possessions, and brought to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife lab on a necropsy, officials said.
“The runner did everything he could to save his life,” said Mark Leslie, CPW Northeast Regional Manager. “Any time a lion attack, you need to do anything into your power to react, just as this gentleman did.”
Mountain lion attacks have caused fewer than 20 fatalities in the us in the past One hundred years. Sixteen known attacks have happened Colorado since 1990, officials said.
“Mountain lion attacks are not common in Colorado and is particularly unfortunate that this lion’s hunting instincts were triggered because of the runner,” Ty Petersburg, area wildlife manager to your CPW, said inside a statement. “This may have had an extremely different outcome.”
