Photo by ODFW
By Shannon Per
A woman hiking on Mt. Hood was killed by a cougar on the Hunchback Ridge Trail. Her death by cougar attack is the first confirmed in Oregon. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have killed a cougar that may have precipitated the attack. It’s problematic because cougars’ ranges are large and overlapping. The cougar’s DNA is being tested to see if it’s a match. It’s a sad situation all around. The ODFW says they will not kill cougars “willy nilly”.
While the public is understandably saddened by this woman’s death, it is easy to jump to conclusions about the actual danger we face from cougars. They are afraid of people and are quite elusive, the most of all the big cats. See the link below on the 10 animals most likely to kill humans.