One week after state wildlife officials set a trap for the island’s cougar, the large cat remains free.

Officials from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) set the trap on Jan. 15, after the predation of an alpaca on the south end of the island two nights prior. At the time, WDFW’s Sgt. Kim Chandler said members of his agency hoped to capture the large cat and relocate it elsewhere.

“We have come to the conclusion that if we are able to catch him, we will transport him off the island fitted with a GPS collar and release him,” he said. “That decision could change if there are other incidents and particularly if there is any type of public safety type incident, but that is the plan right now.”

On Monday, Chandler indicated that the trap would likely be removed this week, depending on officer availability, and would be deployed again if the cougar kills additional livestock. He added that the agency would not come out and search for the cougar.

“We are not going on a cougar hunt,” he said.

Officials determined the cougar was responsible for this most recent predation because of the bite marks on the alpaca’s neck and because the fence, at 7 feet tall, is fairly high. Chandler also noted that the cougar had been spotted in the area the week before. He added that wildlife officials had been “putting their heads together” on how best to proceed.

“This is a no-win situation for anybody, including this cat at this point, and there will be a lot of upset folks one way or the other. There are a lot of upset folks with it just being there, let alone killing (livestock),” he said. “Given the fact that this is an island, and he is the only cat that has been there a long time, this is a special set of circumstances. We would like to give him the opportunity to make it elsewhere outside of island constraints.”

With this plan in place, Chandler indicated there are two large questions: if officials will be able to trap the animal and if they do, where will they locate it.

“A lot of places we would like to put him are under 10 feet of snow right now,” he said. “That presents some problems.”

Chandler added that outfitting the cougar with a GPS collar would mean that wildlife officials would know where he is, and if he attacked any more livestock, wildlife officials could go right in and remove him.

At Vashon Nature Center, Executive Director Bianca Perla expressed mixed feelings about the attempts to trap the cougar, saying from the outset she had hoped the island could provide the space and time the animal needed to mature and move on to a place he could have a mate. She noted that there is evidence that young male cougars sometimes set up temporary homes in urban-interface areas, striking out for more wild territory when they are strong enough to fight with the other males in the area.

“My hope was he could have that time and space he needed,” she said. “But all that depends on how the cougar behaves and if we could adapt to his presence quickly enough.”

One of those adaptations is the night shedding of animals, which she noted is hard to do without the “big beautiful barns of our ancestors.” On the center’s website, she said, there is information for building modest structures to protect livestock, including plans for a structure that could be built for $600.

With islanders faced with an increasing predator population, she said she believes it is important to determine what the good fixes are and work to adopt those.

“We need to be thinking about that more creatively and proactively,” she said.

She added, as an ecologist, she would still like the cougar to leave on his own.

“The best (outcome) is to let him be here and work harder on protecting our livestock and pets … until he can go,” she said.