Authorities: A hiker dead from Oregon was probably killed by a cougar

DOSSIER – This March 8, 2006, an archive photo provided by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department shows a cougar in the Beulah Wildlife Management Unit, in the county of Malheur, Oregon. Oregon authorities say a dead hiker whose body was found this week was probably killed by a cougar, marking the first deadly attack verified by a wild cougar in the state and the second in the northwest Pacific this year. Search and Rescue Teams found the body of 55-year-old Diana Bober on Monday, September 10, 2018, on a runway at Mount Hood National Forest in Welches, Oregon. )

PORTLAND, Ore. – Authorities say that a dead hiker whose body was found this week was probably killed by a cougar, marking the first fatal attack by a wild cougar in Oregon and the second in the Pacific Northwest this year.

Search and Rescue teams found the body of 55-year-old Diana Bober on a track at Mount Hood National Forest in Welches, about 65 kilometers southeast of Portland. His body was several miles from where researchers found his car last week near a guard post.

Bober, a passionate hiker who has often been hiking in the Mount Hood and Columbia River Gorge area, was last heard by family and friends on August 29th. She was reported missing on Friday. Brian Jensen from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

Her body had injuries consistent with a cougar attack and a medical examiner ruled out the possibility of her being attacked after her death from another cause, Jensen said. DNA samples taken from the scene were forwarded by the Oregon State Police to a laboratory at the US Fish and Wildlife Service for further analysis, he added. .

The authorities warned a local school district of the attack and advised other hikers to stay out of the area.

Oregon wildlife officials are trying to find and kill the animal, he said.

"This is an unprecedented event in Oregon," said Brian Wolfer, director of the Department of Fisheries Resources. "We do not know what risk it presents to the public."

Cougar sightings are relatively common in Oregon, particularly in more rural areas, but Bober's death appears to be the first fatal attack.

There are approximately 6,600 cougars – also commonly referred to as mountain lions or cougars – throughout Oregon. According to the authorities, state wildlife officials receive about 400 animal complaints each year.

Cougars may be killed by owners or law enforcement officers when they pose a threat to human safety or damage to livestock or agricultural crops. They can also be hunted.

Over the past decade, about 20 cougars have been killed each year in the Wildlife Management Area where Bober's body was found.

In May, a mountain cyclist in Washington State was killed by a cougar on a trail east of Seattle, the first fatal attack in that state for 94 years.

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Information from: The Oregonian / OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com