Bend cougar capture, killing sparks controversy

A cougar captured and killed in an east Bend neighborhood is causing an uproar from people who say the cat caused no harm and deserved another chance.

With hundreds of comments on previous reports and several emails, you have asked for more answers, and NewsChannel 21 learned more Monday about the cougar and why it was killed.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Corey Heath said his office stands behind its decision to kill the 110-pound 2 1/2-year-old-year-old male cougar that was found lounging in a tree Friday above a home off Southeast Polaris Court.

“We’re just not going to take that risk with people involved,” Heath said Monday.

Heath said an examination of the body found a bite mark on the neck of the cougar — likely a wound from another male cougar over a territory dispute.

He said cougars occupy ranges of about 170 square miles and do not like to share territory with other cats. Health also said trapping and relocating cougars does not work because they’ll either come back, or will be killed by other cougars in territory disputes.

But cougar advocates blasted the agency’s actions and said current research does not support those polices.

“It’s a very antiquated policy, and quite frankly I think the biologist would be embarrassed to state it in public,” said Mountain Lion Foundation Executive Director Tim Dunbar. “(Displaced cougars) travel through areas that are occupied by resident males, but they don’t stop, they just keep on going until they find a place where there isn’t one.”

The Mountain Lion Foundation is a Sacramento-based advocacy group that condemns the hunting and killing of cougars and also works to preserve and protect their habitat.

Dunbar said his office got several phone calls and emails about the cougar killed in Bend. He said ODFW’s decision to tranquilize the cat and then kill it off-site was troubling.

“That was a public relations act, rather than any real consideration for wildlife,” Dunbar said. “They should have just shot it out of the tree, if that’s what they were going to do.”

Heath said zoos have no interest in cougars, and he is not aware of any effective policies to relocate cougars after they’ve become comfortable enough to invade an urban neighborhood.

“I’ve seen it (relocation) for black bears and grizzly bears, with mixed results,” Heath said. “I’ve not seen it for cougars where it alleviates any future concerns.”

He said the department won’t risk the possibility of a more tragic outcome.

“If that cougar ends up in some other type of setting and somebody gets injured or something gets killed, that’s not going to be a good situation,” Heath said.

Dunbar said California recently passed new legislation, making it tougher for game officials to kill cougars instead of pursuing relocation efforts. He also said Washington state has used a program to not only relocate and release cougars, but also make them scared of humans.

“They cart the (cougar) out to the edge of town, they bang on its cage for some time — yell at it — and then when they release, it they continue yelling at it, shoot it with rubber bullets and have a bear dog chase it up into the hills,” Dunbar said.

Heath said about 6,000 cougars call Oregon home, and about 900 live in Central Oregon and surrounding areas.

ODFW’s cougar management plan can be viewed here. More information about the Mountain Lion Foundation is at their Website.