Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Larimer County are investigating a mountain lion attack on a jogger at a mountain park in the US.
A man is recovering in hospital after he fought off and killed a mountain lion that attacked him while he was out on a jog in the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space in Colorado.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the victim of the attack described hearing something behind him on the trail and was attacked by a mountain lion as he turned around to investigate.
The lion lunged at the runner, biting his face and wrist, but he was able to fight and break free from the lion, killing it in self-defense by suffocating it, the Colorado Park confirmed.
The runner sustained serious, but non-life threatening injuries as a result of the attack.
Area wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife Ty Petersburg said in a statement:
"Mountain lion attacks are not common in Colorado and it is unfortunate that the lion’s hunting instincts were triggered by the runner."
"This could have had a very different outcome."
The body of a juvenile mountain lion was found within feet of several possessions the victim asked wildlife officers to look for on the trail.
The lion has been taken to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife animal health lab for a necropsy.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Northeast Region manager Mark Leslie said: “The runner did everything he could to save his life.
"In the event of a lion attack you need to do anything in your power to fight back just as this gentleman did.”
There are fewer than 20 fatalities related to mountain lion attacks in North America in more than 100 years.
Colorado has had 16 injuries as a result of mountain lion attacks, and three fatalities in almost thirty years.
