Wildlife officials killed a 75-pound female cougar in the Dunn Forest west of Corvallis Wednesday morning.
A runner reported encountering an aggressive cougar with a narrow build in Oregon State University's Dunn Forest Saturday morning.
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Michelle Dennehy with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the runner followed the recommended actions of yelling and making himself look larger. But then the cougar came closer — so close the runner kicked it away.
“That’s extremely rare, odd behavior," she said. "And it is absolutely a public safety threat because it shows this cougar isn’t afraid.”
Dennehy said cougars generally avoid people, but this one showed aggression and that’s why it was killed.
Officials used hound dogs to find a cougar nearby that matched the runner’s description. They chased it up a tree and shot it.
The animal’s carcass went to a lab at Oregon State University for examination. The female cougar is estimated to have been 1 or 2 years old. She was not lactating and had not previously nursed kittens. Dunn Forest has reopened to the public.
