Fish and Wildlife officials tranquilize cougar in south Thurston County

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has been busy the past two days, tranquilizing a cougar in south Thurston County on Monday and attempting to lure a mama bear and two cubs from a tree in Pierce County on Tuesday, according to published reports.

The lack of lethal force used in both instances could raise fresh questions about why Fish and Wildlife officials decided to shoot and kill a female black bear last month in Lacey before taking other measures.

But Dan Chadwick, Region 6 captain, defended Fish and Wildlife’s approach in all three cases.

“Each situation is carefully analyzed, and we consider all options,” he said. “We lay everything out.”

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office was the first to respond to the cougar sighting Monday, said Lt. Cliff Ziesemer.

About 1 p.m. Monday, Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Hamilton was dispatched to the 4200 block of 183rd Avenue Southwest after a husband and wife called 911 to report a cougar in a tree. Once Hamilton arrived, he requested the assistance of Fish and Wildlife.

The female cougar, who weighed 80-100 pounds, was about 12 feet up a tree. She was later tranquilized and safely detained, Ziesemer said, until she was later released into the woods. Ziesemer said he didn’t know the specific area.

On Tuesday, Fish and Wildlife officials also were busy trying to lure a mama bear and two cubs from a tree in a Puyallup neighborhood, according to The News Tribune.

Ted Jackson, a sergeant with Fish and Wildlife, responded and placed vanilla extract, syrup and sardines at the bottom of the tree, but had had no luck as of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The bears were about 85 to 90 feet above the ground. Mama bear has an ear tag, meaning she’s been caught and released before, while the cubs were thought to be no more than 18 months old.

Chadwick said traps had been set.

A female black bear met a different fate in Lacey last month.

On Aug. 22, the bear, previously reported by people in the area, was found 100 feet up a tree in a green belt between neighborhoods on Timberline Drive in Lacey, according to an incident report obtained by The Olympian.

Because the bear was too far away for a tranquilizer dart and exhibited “trap shy” behavior, Fish and Wildlife officials decided that in the “interests of public safety, lethal removal was prudent,” according to the report.

Chadwick said the cougar in Tuesday’s case was well within range of a tranquilizer dart — the cougar actually fell asleep in the tree and was lowered to the ground — while lethal force is avoided when a sow is with her cubs, so that she doesn’t leave the cubs orphaned.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Fish and Wildlife officials tranquilize cougar in south Thurston County."