Beast Mode: Colorado Jogger Survives Mountain Lion Attack After Killing Animal… With His Bare Hands

Source: Ibrahim Suha Derbent / Getty

Jogger Kills Mountain Lion With His Bare Hands After Being Jumped On And Suffering Severe Bites

This story is WILD wild! A Colorado man is alive after being attacked by a mountain lion while jogging in the foothills of Horsetooth Mountain on Monday — the animal, however, is not. According to DailyMail reports, the unidentified man was severely bitten before managing to kill the animal in self-defense, authorities said.

The man was jogging a trail on the West Ridge of the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space when the mountain lion attacked him from behind, biting and clawing his face, back, legs and arms, according to a joint release Monday from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Larimer County Department of Natural Resources.

The mountain lion’s body was recovered near the jogger’s belongings, which he’d left behind after leaving the area to seek help. The animal was taken to a CPW lab for a necropsy.

‘The runner did everything he could to save his life,’ said Mark Leslie, CPW Northeast Regional Manager. ‘In the event of a lion attack, you need to do anything in your power to fight back, just as this gentleman did.’

‘Mountain lion attacks are not common in Colorado and it is unfortunate that the lion’s hunting instincts were triggered by the runner,’ said Ty Petersburg, area wildlife manager for the CPW in a statement. ‘This could have had a very different outcome.’

Officials say this kind of attack is rare, with lion attacks causing fewer than 20 fatalities in the U.S. in the past 100 years. Only sixteen known attacks have happened in Colorado since 1990.

Jesus definitely took the wheel in this case. The jogger was also fortunate that the animal that attacked him was a juvenile, weighing around 80 lbs. Fully grown male mountain lions can weigh anywhere between 110 and 180 pounds while females can weigh between 80 and 130 pounds.