Killer cougar was ‘emaciated,’ officials say

A necropsy of the cat’s brain will determine whether it was sick

SEATTLE — The cougar that attacked two bicyclists near North Bend, Wash., on Saturday, killing one and leaving the other with serious injuries, was “emaciated,” according to a fish and wildlife official.

Capt. Alan Myers, of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife police, said the brain of the 100-pound cat will be tested to determine why it attacked the cyclists, the first fatal encounter between a human and a cougar in the state in nearly a century.

Myers said the carcass of the cougar was transported Sunday to Washington State University in Pullman, where a veterinarian will conduct a brain necropsy to determine if the cougar was sick.

Myers confirmed the identities of the victims as S.J. Brooks, 32, of Seattle, and injured friend Isaac Sederbaum, 31, also of Seattle. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office will formally identify the victim after an autopsy. They were mountain biking on a remote dirt road northeast of Snoqualmie Saturday morning when they came across the cougar, which began stalking them and then attacked, according to police and Fish and Wildlife officials.

Sederbaum suffered serious lacerations and bites to his head, neck and face, requiring surgery. He’s in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center, according to spokeswoman Susan Gregg.

Brooks was director of operations at Hillman City Collaboratory, where grass roots organizations and people share the space, and a research assistant at William James College in Massachusetts. A Linked In profile also states Brooks had been office manager of G&O Family Cyclery in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood.

Tom Fulcoloro, founder of Seattle Bike Blog, wrote a story about Brooks, who started a Seattle chapter of Friends on Bikes to help women of color, trans and non-conforming people become interested in bicycling.

While cougar attacks on people are not unheard of, this animal’s behavior was very abnormal, Myers said. Initially, the cougar started to chase them. They stopped, made noise and one of them swung a bike at it in an attempt to distract and frighten it, as is recommended during encounters. The animal appeared to leave, he said, but, instead, circled back and pounced on Sederbaum’s head.

Brooks dropped the bike and ran into the woods. The cougar abandoned its attack on Sederbaum and went after Brooks.

Sederbaum, seriously injured, rode two miles before he was able to find cellphone coverage and call 911.