A third cougar was destroyed in the Chelsea Park neighborhood of Port Coquitlam Saturday morning, less than 48 hours after two other cougars were put down for dangerous behavior.
Sgt. Todd Hunter of the BC Conservation Officer Service said the two-year-old female cougar had chased a dog and was hanging around the area and was going from yard to yard when she was eventually tracked and put down.
“It was habituated to the area and preying on domestic animals,” said Hunter, who said the CO service received several calls about the animal beginning Friday afternoon and into the evening.
Whether it was the mother of the two younger cougars that were killed Thursday evening is not known for sure but is possible. “It was determined that it was a female, a young female, with evidence of having had a litter,” Hunter said.
However, Hunter said it wasn’t possible to relocate the animals because they wouldn’t have survived in the wild.They would have died of starvation because they had become used to easily-available food sources in an urban neighborhood or been killed by an older, larger male cougar for being in their territory.
“We don’t have anywhere to put them,” Hunter said.
He’s warning people living near green belts to keep their domestic pets close and to not let cats wander at night. As well, people should manage their wildlife attractants to avoid attracting bears as well as small animals that are prey to larger animals, such as cougars.
“Manage your yards to the lowest animal on the food chain because otherwise it (attractants) eventually brings in other animals, the predators,” Todd said.
It’s also important to call in a cougar sighting so the BC CO service can keep track of the animals and make better decisions.
The number to call is 1-877-952-7277 (RAPP).
