As the Philadelphia Zoo's vice president for animal management, Karl Kranz has had some tough jobs to manage over the years.
But one of his biggest challenges appears to be helping catch the elusive cougar that has been roaming the Cobbs Creek area in Delaware County and West Philadelphia for more than a week.
Yesterday, as police reported "nothing new on the Cougar Watch," officials from the Zoo, the SPCA, the Greater Philadelphia Search and Rescue Mission and police studied their options.
One idea was to bring in a cougar of the opposite sex to draw the cat out into the open, but no one knows whether the wayward animal is a he or a she.
The lion's share of the project will fall on police, with the Zoo and SPCA also having specific duties.
"Police are handling the details of the capture," Kranz said. "The Zoo takes responsibility for immobilizing the animal by tranquilizing it until it is decided what to do with it. The SPCA will set up the trap.
"My interest is that no one gets hurt, and the cat is safely captured. We will provide a cage that will hold the cougar until police take over."
A police spokesman said that the animal, which was first sighted in Yeadon on Jan. 4, appears to be stabilizing off City Avenue on the Cobbs Creek Golf Course and the woods surrounding the Overbrook section.
"It's been there for several days," he said. "When it hears people coming, off it goes. Cougars are a quick animal. It's gone as soon as it hears or smells people."
