cougar

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission recently approved a new rule that could soon grant George’s wish. But the rule is not without controversy. Many conservationists worry that training more hound handlers could put a strain on Washington’s cougar population and lead to catastrophic unintended consequences for the big cats.

It’s hard not to notice that cougars are making it into the news these days. It’s also hard to miss how they’re getting there: by entering neighborhoods and putting residents on edge.

Groups of Oregonians, particularly hound hunters, say that Oregon’s cougar population is growing out of control. Cougar advocates, on the other hand, say that Oregon is over-hunting cougars, which research suggests can lead to an increase in problem encounters.

The search is on for the cougar suspected of killing a hiker near Mount Hood. It is the first confirmed fatal attack by a wild mountain lion in the state. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to use mules and dogs to search for the mountain lion.

Authorities say a dead hiker whose body was recovered this week was likely killed by a cougar, marking the first fatal attack by a wild cougar in Oregon and the second in the Northwest this year.

Northwesterners are hearing a lot about mountain lions lately. Since May, an extremely rare fatal attack in the Washington Cascades, a Willamette Valley pool party interrupted by a wandering cat and a viral Facebook video of a mountain lion lounging in a southern Oregon woman’s living room have made headlines across the region.Are the Northwest’s mountain lions acting out of character this summer?

A rare attack by a cougar killed a Washington state man over the weekend Saturday, May 19 and seriously injured another man near North Bend, Washington.