The cougar rests inside a metal drum cage after being captured early Sunday inside Discovery Park.

Officials said Karelian bear dogs caught the scent of the big cat late Saturday night and chased it up a tree near the Daybreak Star Center inside the sprawling 534-acre park.

A wildlife agent shot the cougar with a tranquilizer dart at about 2:40 a.m. Sunday. The sedated animal was then placed inside a large metal drum for safekeeping.

After the tranquilizer wore off, the cougar was taken to a remote site in the Cascade foothills of Snohomish County for release back into the wild.

A state Fish & Wildlife agent chases a male cougar after it was released back into the wild in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

More importantly, he says, it has retained its fear of humans, so wildlife officials think it will do well back in the wild.

The animal likely preyed on house cats during its time in the park, he said.

Agents attached a GPS collar on the mountain lion, which will show automatically send updates on its location twice a day, he said.

Wildlife agents have been searching for the animal for 3 1/2 days, and Discovery Park had been closed while the hunt continued. The park was reopened at about 11 a.m. Sunday.

A wildlife official at the scene said the capture went perfectly, and the cougar was not hurt in the process.

He said the animal was not far up in the tree when it was tranquilized. It fell only a short distance into soft leaves as the sedation took effect.

State wildlife agents earlier set two traps in the park - baited with elk liver and fish. But the cougar never approached them.