Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cougar killed in Comox Valley after it was observed hunting domestic house cats

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BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) officers have found and destroyed a cougar that had been killing house cats and exhibiting desensitized behaviour around humans over the past week.

At 7:25 a.m. on Wednesday November 6th, officers tracked the cougar down after it walked down the middle of the road over to a mobile home park, stopping around 200 metres away from a residence.

See also: Footage of battle between cougar and wolf on Vancouver Island surfaces online (VIDEO)

Conservation officers had previously received reports of cougar sightings in the area, and one complainant stated that her pet cat was killed by a cougar right in front of her.

When crews killed the cougar on Wednesday morning, they also found three other domestic cat carcasses in the area near where the wild animal was seen.

“Wednesday morning the cougar was observed very close to where children stage and wait to catch a school bus,” the conservation service said in a statement.

“The cougar was exhibiting very desensitized behavior and was moving around openly during the day and night.”

The officer on site noted that the cougar was obviously focused on domestic house cats and hunting among people’s residences.

“The COS notes that destroying wildlife is the least favorite part of any officers job but that the behavior exhibited by the cougar did not warrant relocation efforts.”

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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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