Cougar sighting on S. Century Dr. near Sunriver

A cougar seen standing on South Century Drive east of the resort community of Sunriver on Thursday morning prompted a fruitless search and a precautionary warning to nearby Three Rivers Elementary School, which kept kids inside for recess.

It was the third such sighting in the area in the past month, police said.

Sunriver police got a call around 11 a.m. from a reporting party who said a cougar was standing on the road, just east of the resort’s property boundary, said Sgt., Joe Patnode.

The cougar reportedly then headed to the northwest, toward Sunriver but away from the school, in the direction of the railroad tracks and power line road, Patnode said.

Sunriver officers notified the school, as well as the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. A Bend-La Pine Schools spokeswoman said Three Rivers students were held inside for recess as a precaution.

Two Sunriver officers and a citizen’s patrol unit conducted an extensive search for the cougar but did not find it. Patnode said the caller had driven to the Sunriver Nature Center, where they were shown photos of a cougar and said it was what they had seen.

“Sunriver police ask that persons using the forest in these areas to be on the lookout for the animal, as well as report any further sightings,” the sergeant said in a news release.

The sighting comes days after a cougar found in a tree behind a home in southeast Bend was tranquilized, captured and killed as a public safety threat.