In a video interview played during the news conference, Mr. Kauffman said that after the mountain lion attacked, he threw his arms up and tried to protect his face. Then he started screaming, doing a sort of “barbarian yell.” Then came a wrestling match, the pin and, eventually, the strangulation.

All along, Mr. Kauffman said later, he had feared that the young mountain lion’s mother would come along and end the fight. Wildlife officials said they trapped two other young mountain lions in the days after Mr. Kauffman was ambushed and that both appeared to have been hungry.