Two cougars put down in Port Alberni after getting near child and pets

Conservation officers had to kill two young cougars Sunday in Port Alberni, after the animals approached a child and pets.

The cougars were orphaned kittens that were “very young, very emaciated,” said Sgt. Stuart Bates of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service. They were estimated to be less than six months old, but the age will be confirmed today in an examination by a wildlife veterinarian.

Conservation officers got the first call about the cougars on May 14, when they attempted to go after someone’s dog, Bates said. “The person chased them off.”

He said the next incident was on May 15, when they approached a toddler on a trail in a wooded area inside the city “in broad daylight.”

“One of them was within three feet of the stroller.”

Bates said it’s suspected the cougars’ mother was the one hit and killed by a car on the highway near Port Alberni on Apri 15.

Relocating the cougars was not an option, he said.

“They’re not able to fend for themselves, so we can’t relocate them or rehabilitate them because they need their mother to teach them how and what to kill,” Bates said. “So if we’d have just taken them to the bush, they’d have just starved to death.”

Cougars stay with their mothers for up to two years, he said.

Bates said conservation officers never want to kill an animal.

“We always look for every possible option, but when they start approaching toddlers and going near strollers, and then actually stand there while a man walks up to within four or five feet of them, that’s not behaviour we can tolerate.”

The two cougars killed were about the same age and condition as the cougar that attacked a boy in Lake Cowichan last March, Bates said.

Zachary Bromley suffered head, neck and arm injuries. His mother, Chelsea, rescued him by jumping on top of the cougar and prying its jaws open.

Bates said there was another incident involving a cougar last week near Nanaimo, where a chihuahua was killed. It took place near the Jump Creek Bridge over the Nanaimo River.

The dog was treated by a veterinarian, but later died.

If you encounter a cougar, don’t run or scream, Bates said.

“You’re not going to outrun it,” he said. “Make yourself look as big as possible and whatever you do, don’t take your eyes off of their eyes.

“They’re literally waiting for you to turn around.”