Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
This 63-year-old farmer is pictured covered in blood and brandishing a large knife after killing a puma – also seen here – that attacked him and his pet pooch.
According to reports, Vicente Navarrete was inspecting his cattle with his wife and a dog called Pico at their farm near the village of Valcheta in the municipality of the same name located in the southern Argentine province of Rio Negro when he first encountered the puma.
Vicente says he noticed his dog running off in the opposite direction and soon found it fighting a large cougar (Puma concolor).
Pictures Credit: CEN
With a knife in hand, the elderly farmer stabbed the puma and it ran off into the nearby hills, according to reports.
Vicente and his dog Pico then tracked the injured animal and reportedly found it lying on the ground. As the farmer approached it, the puma is said to have suddenly jumped up and attacked him.
Local media said the farmer and big cat engaged in a strong fight with Vicente managing to kill the dangerous animal despite suffering serious injuries, like Leonardo DiCaprio and a bear in the epic movie ‘The Revenant’.
Vicente said: “I was about to stab it on the ground when it suddenly jumped up at me. We both fell down, but I kept thrusting my blade into its body.”
“I have a heart problem and I could not stand up afterwards as I was losing a lot of blood so I fashioned a tourniquet. The cold weather helped the blood to clot, but I was having a bad time of it.”
When darkness fell and he failed to return home, his wife Honoria Antilef called the local authorities and a search operation was launched at around midnight to find the farmer and his dog.
Reports said that police officers and volunteer firefighters found him covered in blood at nearly 5am.
According to the police, the farmer was severely dehydrated with several injuries to his head, face and arms.
He also sustained a broken wrist and the puma had bitten his arm and severed a vein, according to reports.
The elderly farmer was taken to hospital where he is reportedly in a stable condition.
Hospital Valcheta director Alejandro Solari told local media: “The patient is doing well. He will be monitored for a few more days.”
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