Coquitlam River Park is expected to re-open Friday after a cougar was shot and killed in the park Thursday morning.
The park had been closed for about two days while conservation officers searched for a cougar that had been spotted close to nearby homes and back yards. Initial fears that the numerous sightings over the past week or so might be a family of cougars appear to be unfounded, said Coquitlam's urban wildlife co-ordinator.
"[The conservation officers] believe that was the only one," said Drake Stephens. "There were rumours it could be a family but when the cougar expert came in, they believe it was a single."
Conservation officer Don Stahl said the cougar couldn't be relocated because it was showing too much interest in people.
On Tuesday night at about 8:30 p.m. a family on River Drive was eating dinner when they noticed the cougar in the back yard. It had turned to go back to the green belt when an eight-year-old girl ran up to the sliding glass door and was yelling, "Cougar, cougar, cougar" in a high-pitched voice.
At that point the cougar turned back towards the house and started pacing back and forth and was "fixated on the little girl," Stahl said.
On Wednesday afternoon the cougar entered another River Drive back yard about half a block down from the first house. A woman was sitting at her computer desk when she heard a loud thud on the window about a foot away from her.
She looked out the window and saw that the cougar had tried to lunge at her. "It only stopped because the glass was there," Stahl said, adding the cougar then jumped over the fence and took off.
Four conservation officers attended the scene that afternoon and searched up and down the river. They also set a live trap for the cougar.
A conservation officer from Kamloops, along with his cougar hounds, arrived in Coquitlam late Wednesday night and they were out searching for the cougar by 4:30 a.m. Thursday.
"Shortly before 8 a.m. the dogs got the scent of the cougar," Stahl said, and were able to chase the cougar up a tree in another River Drive back yard. A resident spotted the dogs and the cougar and called the Conservation Officer Service line, which then contacted officers on the ground to alert them to the cougar's location.
Once they arrived at the home they shot the cougar down.
"The reason it wasn't relocated is because camping seasonis just starting, there are a lot of families in provincial parks, on Crown land hiking and ATVing," Stahl said. "That cougar had lost all fear of people and even went one step further and tried lunging at someone.
"If that cougar was relocatedand then came after a young child - the risk is just too high. That's why it was put down."
This week's park closure came with a warning to nearby residents after a handful of sightings in the area.
Last week a cougar attacked a dog in the back yard of a home on Sasamat Lake - and took a swipe at the teenager who tried to come to the dog's rescue.
Residents were asked to stay away from the Coquitlam River Park and to be cautious in all areas surrounding the Coquitlam River.
Anyone who spots a cougar is asked to call the 24/7 Conservation Officer Service line immediately at 1-877-952-7277.
