In a deadly encounter of 3 minutes, US Mountain Strangled Mountain Lion

DENVER:

A 31 year old man who repelled and choked a mountain lion when He attacked him during a run in Colorado Last week, Trail had described on Thursday how he had killed the big cat by putting his throat on it during a fight in perpetuity

Speaking for the first time in public since the February 4 incident that left him with still visible lacerations Travis Kauffman described for journalists this poignant meeting of three minutes.

Kauffman stated that he was running at the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, about 65 miles northwest of Denver, when he heard pine needles rustle and only turned his head. "I was stunned to see a mountain lion," he said at a press conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, where the environmental consultant was living with his girlfriend. [19659004] Kauffman raised his arms and screamed at the cougar, but he jumped and blocked his jaw on his right wrist and scratched his face. His attempts to end the attack by hitting the predator with sticks and hitting his head with a rock were futile.

Eventually, he managed to tie the cougar to the ground and choke him up to choking. he stopped struggling. During the fight, he was afraid that another cougar would join the tussle.

"My reaction to fear has turned into a combat response," he said.

Mountain lions, also called pumas or panthers, are native. according to the National Federation of Wildlife.

Cougar attacks on humans are rare, however, fewer than 20 people have been killed in North America in the last 100 years. According to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website,

Colorado has between 4,500 and 5,500 mountain lions and since 1990, 16 people have been injured and three victims of mountain lions attacks, said the l & # 39; 39; agency. Kauffman, who measures 5 feet 10 inches and weighs about 155 pounds, said he was practicing neither martial arts nor training to wrestle and that he was acting solely on adrenaline. .

"The decisions were rather instinctive," he added. 19659004] Injuries to his face, neck, wrist and legs required more than 20 stitches. Kauffman admitted that he was lucky to survive the attack without any permanent injuries.

"I should go buy a lot of lottery tickets," he said.

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