Police in Oregon City are urging caution to people living near Singer Creek Park after a cougar was caught on camera in the area twice on New Year’s Day.
Sgt. Kevin Carlson, a public information officer with the Oregon City Police Department, said the agency received a call from a resident near the park who said their home surveillance camera captured the cougar on their property around 7 a.m. Thursday and again around 6 p.m.
A cougar was caught on camera near Singer Creek Park in Oregon City around 7 a.m. and again around 6 p.m. Jan. 1.
Oregon City Police Department / Courtesy
Police ask anyone who has seen the cougar to make a report with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In the event of a cougar encounter, ODFW cautions people not to run. Instead they should maintain eye contact with the animal and make noise by speaking with a firm voice, clapping or yelling. If the cougar seems aggressive, ODFW says you can also raise your arms to make yourself appear bigger.
Carlson said at this point, police and ODFW are not trying to capture and relocate the cougar but may decide to do so if they receive more reports. Right now, he said, OCPD just wants residents in the area to be aware and be cautious with their pets.
According to ODFW, cougars rarely attack humans, though a man was killed by one in Colorado this week. Regionally, a cougar dragged a four-year-old into the woods in Washington last summer. And in 2024, five mountain bikers were attacked by a cougar on a trail near Snoqualmie, Washington.
While state officials say cougar sightings are rare in Oregon, cougars were reported in the past year in both Beaverton and Corvallis. Another cougar was spotted in 2023 on Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach.
ODFW did not immediately respond to OPB’s request for comment.
