UPDATE | Cougar shot and killed by police in Tri-Cities orchard

Benton County deputies shot and killed a cougar in an orchard in southeast Kennewick on Wednesday after it was seen in a tree and roaming lawns overnight.

Police had been looking for the cougar and found it at 10:20 a.m. in an orchard on Game Farm Road where people were working.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office told state wildlife officials that since the wild animal had been in a populated area they thought it was safer to kill it then to try and move it, said Staci Lehman with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

It’s not uncommon for the big cats to return to an area even after they are relocated, Lehman said.

The animal had been raising concerns since it was initially spotted in a southeast Kennewick neighborhood at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Kennewick police and wildlife officials received four cougar sighting reports overnight.

The first call came from the 200 block of East 41st Place, when the mountain lion was seen in a tree in the southeast Kennewick neighborhood.

Officers called wildlife officials and were able to snap a picture of the animal before it came down about 10 minutes later. It’s light-colored muzzle can be seen through the foliage.

Pasco officers then helped search for the animal in the canyon using a drone. But it slipped away from sight.

“Unfortunately, once a big cat comes down a tree in an area like that, unless we are onsite already, it is extremely difficult to track,” Lehman said

Another call came in around 2 a.m. of a cougar standing in a front yard near the intersection of West Fourth Avenue and Huntington Place.

People saw the animal two more times between then and 4:30 a.m., Lehman said, but it hasn’t been seen since.

Cougars have visited the area around Fourth Avenue and Huntington Place before. In 2012, law enforcement officers shot one at 3207 W. Third Avenue. The cat needed to be shot because it had gotten into a tree and wouldn’t come down.

They’re most often seen in the spring.

While the wild cats may be big, they rarely want to have anything to do with humans, Lehman said.

Once they realize that they are not in the right habitat, they move quickly to find a way back to the appropriate area.

Attacks are rare

Cougar attacks on humans are extremely rare, shows the state’s cougar information website. In 94 years, as of 2018, there had been two encounters proving fatal for the person.

People should still be cautious if they see one, and not approach it.

If you encounter on on a trail, make yourself look big, be aggressive and throw something at the cat if it doesn’t back down. Do not run away.

You should also call the non-emergency dispatch number at 509-628-0333 or call 911, if they spot a cougar in town.

The state doesn’t have an estimate on the number of cougars in the area, but with a lot of open land and rivers there are definitely big cats in the area, Lehman said.

“The beauty of Washington is that we live among wild animals and usually you never even know they are there,” he said.

This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 10:09 AM.