cougar attack

(Runtime :58)Summer session at Washington State University has begun. But now, a possible cougar has killed as many as five spring lambs at WSU’s barn…

Most Western states rely on hunters to keep cougar numbers in check. It makes a sort of logical sense: if cougar populations are high, attacks on elk, bighorn sheep and deer should be high. So should attacks on livestock and humans. But a new study casts doubt on the effectiveness of sport hunting as a means of predator control.

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.

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.