NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) – The runner who strangled a mountain lion as it attacked him on a Colorado trail earlier this month spoke out for the first time.
Travis Kauffman, 31, survived the attack while running Horsetooth Mountain Open Space in Fort Collins. He said he screamed a "barbarian yell" and fought back, fearing for his life.
"There was a point that I was concerned I wasn't going to make it out of there," he told reporters. "And I think it might have been a mix of me tussling with the cat and it still clawing at me and me thinking about another cat potentially coming along"
Kauffman said the big cat ripped up his thighs and legs and bit down on his wrist.
He was able to strangle the mountain lion to death and escape.
Wildlife officials later located the body of a young mountain lion on the trail near several of the runner's possessions. The animal was taken to a lab for a necropsy.
Fewer than 20 people have died from cougar attacks in North America in more than 100 years. Mountain lions are quiet, solitary, elusive predators that typically avoid humans, but it's important to remain alert if you're in an area where they live, according to the press release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
