Instances of attacks are often seen among sick or starving lions, which normally are elusive and tend to avoid humans. The animal in Monday's attack has been taken to a nearby lab for a post-mortem examination to be performed.<doc-sep>A November 2014 file photo of P-22, a wild mountain lion that lived alongside millions of people in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, and was considered a suspect in the death of a koala at the LA Zoo that year. Photo : National Park Service ( AP ) An unidentified man who was running on Horsetooth Mountain Open Space’s West Ridge Trail near Fort Collins, Colorado had a nasty encounter on with a juvenile cougar on Monday, which ended with the runner wounded and the animal strangled to death, the Coloradoan reported this week. Advertisement According to the Coloradoan, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has confirmed that a male cougar (Puma concolor couguar, also known as a mountain lion, puma, or catamount) weighing at least 80 pounds attacked the man and managed to inflict bite wounds to his face and wrist—before the tables turned and the man managed to suffocate it with his bare hands. The runner sustained “serious, but non-life threatening injuries ” in the deeply unfortunate incident, CPW wrote in a statement, while wildlife officials took the corpse of the cougar for a necropsy. Per the New York Times, a parks and wildlife spokesperson said that other animals had scavenged on the cougar’s corpse by the time they located it, though officials confirmed on Tuesday that it had indeed died from suffocation (and that it was, fortunately, not rabid). “The runner did everything he could to save his life,” CPW Northeast region manager Mark Leslie said in the statement. “In the event of a lion attack, you need to do anything in your power to fight back, just as this gentleman did.” According to CNN, the Larimer County Department of Natural Resources said that trails at the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space were closed on Tuesday due to rangers’ detection of “more mountain lion activity in the area.” They will reassess the situation on Friday, CNN wrote. Though cougars were once hunted to near-extinction in the U.S., researchers believe their Western populations and those of other apex predators such as wolves and coyotes are beginning to rebound (though how much is still a matter of contention). Advertisement Scientists once categorized regional populations of the cats as distinct subspecies, though that view has diminished due to genetic research in 2000 that concluded all are the same subspecies. According to National Geographic, the Eastern variant has declined to the point of effective extirpation for at least the past 100 years, though Western cougars have been sighted moving into the Midwest, and a few males have been “found closer to the East Coast.” There is one East Coast population that still exists, though it is not doing so hot. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has considered the Florida panther as a endangered subspecies (Puma concolor coryi) since 1967, when the Department of the Interior ruled it was approaching extinction and needed protected status. Taxonomic debates aside, one of the researchers who published the genetic study, Melanie Culver, told the Tampa Bay Times in 2017 it should continue to enjoy that status. It unfortunately appears to be headed towards total extirpation regardless, in no small part due to collisions with vehicles. Advertisement Colorado wildlife officials emphasized to the Times that mountain lions have only caused three confirmed deaths in the state since 1990, and under 12 in North America in over 100 years. However, the CPW website advises that interactions between the animals and humans have been increasing in recent years, with factors including encroachment on cougar territory, a measured increase in deer populations and a “presumed increase” in cougar populations, and people simply being more aware of their presence. The CPW website advises that humans should travel in groups within the cats’ established ranges and never approach a cougar, ever, as they usually want nothing more than to be left alone by people and “will try to avoid a confrontation.” Advertisement If the cougar approaches, the website advises people to talk “calmly and firmly” to it while backing away slowly, as well as to avoid running and attempt to appear larger (such as by raising arms or expanding a jacket) if possible. If it appears to be behaving aggressively, CPW further advises people to try and dissuade it by throwing objects “without crouching down or turning your back” and to fight back with any available weapons, tools, or other objects in the event of an attack. [The Coloradoan/New York Times]<doc-sep>Rangers increased patrols at Horsetooth Mountain Park on Tuesday after Monday's mountain lion attack on a trail runner. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said Tuesday the mountain lion was less than a year old and weighed less than 100 pounds. The man, who has not yet been publicly identified, received puncture wounds and lacerations but is doing well and recovering from his wounds, and, according to a Larimer County Natural Resources, he was released from the hospital. The mountain lion tested negative for rabies, but other diseases have not yet been ruled out because CPW has not yet completed its investigation. The agency will provide more details as they become available. Larimer County issued a release Tuesday that said the park will be closed until rangers can reassess the situation Friday along with CPW officers before reopening the popular open space. "We want to allow for a cooling off period before reopening Horsetooth Mountain Open Space," said Ken Brink Jr., visitor services manager for Larimer County Department of Natural Resources. "We are approaching this situation with an abundance of caution for the safety of our visitors." The park has reopened Monday evening after the scene was evaluated by state wildlife experts and Larimer County rangers and the mountain lion was found dead. But county rangers encountered additional mountain lion activity in the area after stepping up patrols Tuesday and decided to shut down the park later that afternoon. "We'll reopen Horsetooth Mountain when we’ve had more time to assess mountain lion activity in the area with our partners at CPW,'' Brinks said." More:Mountain lion attack puts fear in some Fort Collins trail runners Tara Radcliffe, who lives near the park and runs in the park regularly, said she ran in the park Monday after the incident took place and when she was finishing her run, she noticed the trails were closed. She ran Tuesday morning and said the parking lot and trails were open. “I passed several people (Tuesday) on the run down, and everyone I saw asked if I saw anything,'' she said. "People are probably a little paranoid. ... It’s a little more eerie than usual up here." . More:Runner kills mountain lion in self-defense after attack in Horsetooth Mountain Park west of Fort Collins Ty Petersburg, CPW wildlife manager, told 9NEWS the man did everything the agency asks people to: He put his hands in the air, made a lot of noise and stood his ground. "At that point, it was kind of a fight for survival between him and lion," Petersburg said. "The lion was upon his upper body and the man was able to fight the animal off and kill it at the end of it in self-defense, and then get himself off the trail into a car. "[The man] didn't have any weapons ... He was really creative. He used his hands, feet — things that were around him, and really it was just a fight for survival." CPW officials confirmed the man's account of the attack through their investigation and examining the juvenile mountain lion. The runner told officials he heard something behind him on the trail and as he turned, he was attacked. He said he was bitten on his face and wrist but was able to fight and break free from the lion. Wildlife officers found the mountain lion dead near where the incident took place while looking for items the runner asked them to look for along on the trail. By the time crews found it, the lion was already being fed on by other animals, so it's not clear what its full weight was, Petersburg said. "In the event of a lion attack, you need to do anything in your power to fight back just as this gentleman did,'' said Mark Leslie, CPW's Northeast Region manager. 9NEWS contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — Trapped by the sharp claws and teeth of a mountain lion, a runner fought hard for his life. To break free, wildlife officials said, he choked the animal to death. A man was running by himself Monday in the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space near Fort Collins, Colorado, when he heard something behind him. When he turned around, an 80-pound mountain lion attacked him, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said. The young lion bit the runner’s face and wrist but he managed to break free and kill the lion in self-defense, the agency said. A necropsy confirmed the animal was suffocated, officials said Tuesday. The lion, which was less than a year old, tested negative for rabies, CPW tweeted. “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,” said Mark Leslie, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s northeast region manager. The runner suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital but has since been released, officials said. The trails at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space were closed to the public Tuesday after rangers encountered “more mountain lion activity in the area,” the Larimer County Department of Natural Resources said. Rangers will reassess the safety of the trails on Friday, the department said. “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 Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “This could have had a very different outcome.” Fewer than 20 people have been killed in North America by mountain lions in more than 100 years, officials said. In Colorado, three people have been killed and 16 injured in mountain lion attacks since 1990. The lions tend to avoid humans, parks and wildlife officials said. In a Facebook post, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said that although the runner was able to kill the lion with his “bare hands,” others should try to stay away from lions and back away slowly if it’s possible. “Don’t mess with Colorado trail runners,” Polis said about the incident. CNN’s Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.