Elk hunter fends off cougar attack in WA

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NEWS RELEASE

WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, Washington 98501-1091
Internet Address: http://www.wa.gov/wdfw

November 3, 2003
Contact: Madonna Luers, 509-456-4073

Elk hunter fends off cougar attack

An elk hunter in the Blue Mountains of southeast Washington fended off an
attack by a cougar while starting to field dress a dead elk this week.

Kirk Zehner, 33, of Walla Walla was bending over the carcass of an elk shot
by a member of his hunting party, skinning knife in hand, when something hit
him from behind, knocking him on to the carcass and driving his head into
the ground. He instinctively struck at the attacker with his knife and heard
a squeal. He attempted to get up but the animal pushed down on him again as
it ran off. He saw only a grayish white blur leaving without another sound.

When Zehner's hunting partners arrived on the scene in off-road vehicles to
haul the elk out, they found him shaking and drawn but uninjured. About half
the length of his knife was covered in blood from his strike into the
attacking animal. The backside of his sweatshirt was torn and bloody. Zehner
helped field dress the elk with his knife, then cleaned it and his
sweatshirt with water.

The incident occurred October 27 at about 7:30 a.m. in a brushy, steep
ravine of the Lewis Peak area in northern Walla Walla County. Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officers were notified of the attack
October 29.

WDFW officer Mike Johnson of Walla Walla led an investigation of the
incident and is convinced it was a cougar that attacked Zehner, based on the
clothing tear marks and the strength and silence of the animal.

Although Johnson is not sure about the cat's motive, WDFW policy is to
attempt to track and kill any cougar that attacks a human. A local hunter
with cougar-tracking hounds was contacted, but scenting conditions were so
bad two days after the incident that no immediate attempt was made to locate
the animal. Zehner's stabbing of the animal could have fatally injured it,
however, so hounds may be used to attempt to locate a carcass in the area to
possibly learn more about the incident.

Cougar attacks on humans are extremely rare. In North America, fewer than 20
fatalities and 75 non-fatal attacks have been reported during the past 100
years. However, more cougar attacks have been reported in the western United
States and Canada over the past 20 years than in the previous 80. In
Washington, there have been nine recorded attacks by cougars on humans over
the past 80 years, (including one fatality in 1924), and five of those
attacks have occurred during the 1990's.

 

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November 16, 2003

Cougar likely suspect in elk hunter attack near Walla Walla

OUTDOORS: Man in Blue Mountains repulses animal with skinning knife and is unharmed.

Doug Huddle, For the Bellingham Herald

State fish and wildlife enforcement officers are continuing their investigation of a Blue Mountain hunter's report that, as he was field dressing an elk carcass early on the morning of Oct. 27, a cougar jumped him.

The attack occurred in brushy, steep terrain in the vicinity of Lewis Peak, about 14 miles east of Walla Walla, during the general or modern firearms elk season, according to hunter Kirk Zehner, 33. Zehner reported the incident to state officers Oct. 29.

The Walla Walla resident told fish and wildlife investigators that he was bent over the elk carcass with knife in hand when he was violently struck from behind. The force of the impact drove Zehner head down to the ground, but he managed to wield his skinning knife and drive it into his attacker, which let out a squeal.

Zehner said he tried to regain his feet while the animal was still on top of him. But the now apparently wounded cat, in attempting to break away, pushed Zehner back to the ground, jumped off and silently bounded back into nearby cover.

His recollection of the assailant, said Zehner, was a grayish white blur running off without making any more sound.

His hunting partners rejoined him shortly after the too-close-for-comfort encounter, finding Zehner shaken and with ripped, bloodstained clothing, but otherwise unharmed. They confirmed the blood covering half the blade on Zehner's knife.

Investigating WDFW officer Mike Johnson, who examined Zehner's clothing and interviewed the hunter, concluded from the tear marks on Zehner's sweatshirt and the stealthy, violent nature of the attack that Zehner's nemesis was certainly a cougar.

In accordance with the agency's dangerous wildlife guidelines, cougars that attack humans are immediately tracked down and killed. However, attempts to chase this cat with the aid of hunting hounds were foiled by poor scent tracking conditions in the mountainous region.

To gain further insight into the nature of the attack, Johnson said that follow-up efforts would likely to be made to find the cougar, which may have died as a result of the stab wound Zehner inflicted in repelling it.

Wildlife officers can infer from the age of the animal, its physical condition and health indications what may have impelled the cat to attack a human.

Washington wildlife managers report that there have been nine documented attacks on humans by cougars (including one death in 1924) in the past 80 years. Five of those incidents have occurred since 1990.

In response to public safety concerns, the state fish and wildlife commission established, in 1998, an agency response policy for handling dangerous wildlife. Those guidelines can be found on the agency's Web site at http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/enf/danger/dngrwild.

To report a dangerous wildlife (not just cougars) incident anywhere in Washington, call 1-800-477-6224.

A least one civil court ruling in California also established a significant precedent, finding state government is legally responsible for the actions of individual wildlife that have been designated as trouble or dangerous animals.

In Washington, since the passage in 1996 of Initiative 655, the nature of cougar hunting as well as management of their populations have changed.

Now during the general season from Aug. 1 to March 15 only so-called "boot" hunters (without the aid of tracking dogs) may hunt and kill these top cats. The annual bag limit is two cougars (not in the company of spotted kittens). In addition to valid basic hunting licenses, special transport tags must be obtained by cou-gar hunters.

In 2000, following legislative reauthorization of the use of hounds for culling of cougar populations where a specific public safety justification exists, the department started holding annual dog-aided cougar removal hunts.

Hunters meeting qualifications may enter drawings that award a limited number of permits to hunt cougars in selected areas of the state with the aid of hounds. Those hunts start in December and close in March.

This year, 61 permits were authorized statewide, including 10 in game management units 407 and 454 in Northwest Washington.

Anyone facing a direct, unavoidable threat from an aggressive cougar, which is acting menacingly, may legally defend themselves by killing the animal. Also, cougars caught in the immediate act of attacking live-stock or pets may be killed.

Otherwise, wildlife managers say you should leave these creatures to fulfill their roles in nature.

The department has a set of recommended steps on its Web site that persons in rural or suburban interface areas can take to avoid attracting cougars. There's also a do's/don'ts list detailing what to do to safely defuse a close encounter - for you and the cougar.