First on Magnolia Voice: Wildlife officers captured the cougar in Discovery Park early this morning. Dogs were able to track the cougar’s scent in the rain, and they chased it up a tree. Wildlife officers successfully tranquilized and captured the animal. Photos and coverage follow below:
UPDATED 9 a.m.: The cougar is starting to wake up and wildlife officials are getting ready to take him to Snohomish County where he will be released into the wild. These pictures show that he is lifting his head and moving around in his enclosure.
Wildlife officials are monitoring him carefully and say that he is doing very well.
UPDATED 8 a.m.: Discovery Park will reopen at 11 a.m. today. The cougar is now sedated and resting in a truck. He is about three years old and weighs 138 pounds. He was captured at 2 a.m.
Department of Wildlife officials received information about another sighting from someone working at the Daybreak Center at 7pm and officer Nicholas Jorg came in at midnight to hunt the cougar.
Even with the pouring rain, they were able to pick up the scent and the dogs found the cougar. He was on the road that leads to the cultural center in a big leaf maple tree.
Updated 7:30am: Here are the first pictures of the captured cougar:
The elusive cougar that has been spotted in Magnolia and Discovery Park has been caught. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials tell us that they brought dogs in around 2 a.m. today, the dogs caught the scent of the cougar and chased it up a tree inside the park. Officials used a tranquilizer gun and got the cat out of the tree. We’re told that the cougar is fine and will be released this afternoon.
Follow our ongoing coverage of the cougar’s capture on Magnolia Voice by clicking to the home page or by visiting our latest stories:
- Cougar equipped with device that will send out text messages
- Neighbors relieved with cougar’s capture
- Cougar arrived in Magnolia “by accident,” officials say
