Terrifying moment angry mountain lion charges out of a cave at biologist who fired a tranquilizer dart at it so he could attach a research collar

Incredible moment that biologist comes face to face with death when the ferocious mountain lion angrily charged towards him after shooting the beast with a tranquilizer dart.

Travis Legler, 48, who captured the heartbreaking moment, was lucky not to slide off the 50-foot cliff as the enraged beast hissed and climbed towards him, as the pair tried to subdue the animal in the Kabib National Forest, Arizona on January 12.

“You can’t see it in the video, but I was standing on a 200-foot-by-200-foot ledge with a 160-foot cliff behind me,” Legler said. Living outside. “So when the cat hit me, both me and the cat went off the cliff.”

It was also a thrilling event for the biologist who wanted to collar the animal for research purposes, when the mountain lion jumped over his head and clambered and hissed at him just a few feet away.

With the tranquilizer not working immediately, the distressed beast bounced terrifyingly between the two men before descending 50 to 60 feet to rest on a ledge below.

Mr Legler, who chased the animal away with a quick hiss, described the incident as one of the most ‘unusual and intense’ he has ever witnessed.

Like other felines, mountain lions eat only meat and often lie in the shade before hunting for their hapless prey, often deer.

Mountain lion sightings are not uncommon in Arizona; as of 2020, the state is home to approximately 1,715 of these big cats.

Research is often conducted by tranquilizing these enormous animals and placing tracking collars in an effort to better understand the behavior and patterns of those living in human-populated areas.

Mr. Legler, who filmed the chilling moment, is a volunteer hunting dog who also helps wildlife agencies in Utah and Arizona capture black bears and cougars for research.

So when he was asked by an Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) biologist to help capture a mountain lion and fit the animal with a tracking collar, he couldn’t say no.

He started his day like any other and took a trip with his dogs to the national forest, but soon they were on the heels of a female mountain lion.

After tracking the aggressive animal to a small crevice in the canyon, Mr. Legler eventually left with his dogs and went about his day until he received a message on his GPS from an AZGFD biologist.

The animal expert asked him if he had seen any mountain lions that day and if he would like to help capture one, to which Mr. Legler agreed.

But the hunting dog, who is on an approved list to help biologists capture mountain lions, did not expect to come so close to death upon his return to the crevasse where he last saw the mountain lion.

Travis Legler, 48, who captured the terrifying moment, helped the wildlife biologist track the angry big cat into a cave crevice

With a deep growl as she charged toward the steadfast biologist, the mountain lion scrambled before descending 50 to 60 feet in an attempt to escape.

Tucked away in the crevice of the gorge was the animal, which had not moved an inch since Mr. Legler tracked her down that morning – and she was not keen to be caught either, growling a deep growl at the pair as they approached.

“I could hear it, you know, when I first got there,” he said.

“And once he got down there, where he felt like it wasn’t going anywhere, he had me move to the other side (of the slot canyon).”

According to Mr. Legler, animals usually go to sleep immediately after being shot with an anesthetic, but this big cat put up a fierce fight, grazing the biologist’s head and nearly knocking Mr. Legler off the edge of the cliff.

After bouncing between the canyon walls and growling at the two men in an attempt to escape, she descended another 50 to 60 feet before finally giving in to the tranquilizer.

Mr Legler helped the biologist abseil to the big cat, where the unnamed animal expert took samples and collared the animal for research purposes.

After the biologist administered a drug to wake the animal, he brought the biologist back to safety.

The wildlife expert, who was just yards away from the fearsome big cat, has chosen to remain unidentified amid the controversial debate surrounding mountain lion management in the western United States.

In Colorado, an initiative is looming that could potentially end the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats and bobcats in the state.

The debate has become heated as those opposed to the hunting law have petitioned the Colorado Supreme Court to stop the proposed imitation. The Colorado sun reports.

A revised second initiative was submitted in December 2023, calling for restrictions on the hunting of lions, bobcats and lynx, but like the first, it would continue to call for a ban on the use of hunting traps, dogs and electronic calls that imitate hunting. sound of distressed animals.

Fortunately, Travis quickly managed to scare off the mountain lion when the animal nearly knocked him off the edge of the cliff

Hunting groups have continued to oppose the ban, arguing that it should not be the decision of voters or politicians, but of wildlife commissioners on how best to manage animal populations.

As a result of this controversy, the AZGFD requested that Mr. Legler remove the video, which initially received half a million views on Instagram before being reposted on other platforms.

“I don’t normally post (this content). Sometimes I send these videos to my friends, but I got so many requests from people telling me to post it because it was the coolest thing they’ve ever seen,” Legler told the publication.

‘And the biologist has no problem with (the video) at all. He thought it actually shined a very positive light on the interaction between a hunter, a biologist and a mountain lion, and how that all can happen.”