Colorado trail runner fends off mountain lion attack by suffocating animal to death
A Colorado man is expected to make a full recovery after suffocating a mountain lion to death when the animal attacked him while he was running.
According to The Coloradoan, the man was jogging on a path in Horsetooth Mountain Park near Fort Collins when the 80-pound animal appeared from behind and began attacking him. Despite suffering cuts to his face and wrists from the lion’s claws, the unidentified man was able to wrestle himself free from the feline. Per The Denver Post, the jogger took himself to a nearby hospital after hiking to safety.
When speaking to authorities, the man alleged that he ultimately killed the lion by suffocating it to death. This would later be confirmed by the wildlife officials who located the animal’s corpse near where the ambush occurred.
After additional investigation, including examination of the lion, we have confirmed the victim's account that he was able to suffocate the animal while defending himself from the attack.
— CPW NE Region (@CPW_NE) February 5, 2019
“It’s an amazing story. Everyone is baffled and impressed,” Rebecca Ferrell, a representative for Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in disbelief. “He had no weapons, no knives or trekking poles with him. How did he do it? It’s pretty rare. That is definitely a twist on this, I’m sure.”
As of Tuesday, the jogger was still nursing his bruises in the hospital. Ferrell also mentioned that authorities will pay the jogger a visit to the hospital in order to better understand his tactics behind fighting and eventually killing the lion.
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