Wildlife officials say a man who fought off a young mountain lion on a northern Colorado trail killed the animal by strangling it.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the man was running alone near Fort Collins when the lion attacked him from behind after the movement apparently triggered its hunting instincts.

A spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Rebecca Ferrell, says the man told investigators he choked it and an examination of the animal confirmed that.

Ferrell says he did exactly the right thing by fighting back as hard as he could. Since he was just out for a run, he didn’t have anything to help him other than “sheer will”.

The runner, whose name hasn’t been released, fought off the cougar, hiked out of the area after Monday’s attack and drove himself to a hospital. He suffered facial cuts, wrist injuries and puncture wounds to his arms, legs and back.

On Tuesday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the investigation confirmed the man’s account that he strangled the animal.

Mountain lions attacks are rare. Sixteen people have been injured and three killed by mountain lions in Colorado since 1990. Last year, a starving mountain lion mauled one cyclist to death and seriously injured another during an early-morning ride in North Bend, Washington, about 30 miles east of Seattle.

Avoiding attacks

The best way to avoid a run-in with a mountain lion is to practice and prepare, says Lynn Cullens, executive director of the non-profit Mountain Lion Foundation, which seeks to protect mountain lions and their habitat.

“We always say: if you encounter a mountain lion, be very big, make noise, stare at it, back away and don’t run,” she says. “And if you are attacked: fight back.”

Understanding basic facts about mountain lion biology and behavior can help. Mountain lions tend to spend the day in cover and hunt when deer are most active at dawn and dusk, in conditions of low light. Those can also overlap with times that people want to get out and walk to avoid the heat of the day.

Cullens adds that mountain lions don’t see the same things humans do. Their eyes are adapted for low-light periods, and they rely on the shape and movement of natural prey. “We encourage people to look as human as possible on the trail,” she says. That can also mean wearing brightly contrasting clothing, like black and white or red and white – since mountain lions don’t see color very well, the contrast helps people stand out.

She advises that people leave a natural escape route for an animal to pass by. “If you’re on a narrow trail, you may want to move out of the trail so the lion can see forward and move by you,” she says. “In some circumstances, the animal doesn’t want to turn its back on you same as you don’t want to turn your back on it.”

The oft-touted wildlife maxim holds true in such situations, she said. “Mountain lions are often just as scared of you as you are of them.”

• This article was amended on 6 February 2019 to correct a reference to suffocation