An unusually dry spring has been linked to a dramatic spike in cougar sightings across B.C.
According to latest Ministry of Environment statistics, there were 389 reported sightings in May 2015, compared with an average of 221 for May over the previous four years. For April, the figure was 242 sightings, compared with the April average of 158.
In Metro Vancouver alone, there have been 99 reports to wildlife officials since April, compared with 126 for all of last year.
“It’s up pretty high,” said conservation officer Todd Hunter, who works in the North Vancouver area. “Summer is the busiest time, especially for cougars and especially during hot, dry periods.”
It has been very dry this year, with only four millimetres of rain in May. The average for the month is 65 mm.
B.C.’s south coast already has a healthy population of cougars because of an increase in the deer population in recent few years, said Hunter, and the big cats’ habitat is being reduced by encroaching development.
The unseasonably hot and dry weather causes the scent of deer to dissipate faster, making cougars more likely to turn to smaller prey such as domestic pets, and conservation officers are urging people to take precautions.
“Don’t leave your domestic animals out unattended or let them wander around, especially if you are near a greenbelt or wooded area,” said Hunter.
In a recent cougar attack, a resident on Highland Boulevard in North Vancouver reported spotting a cougar preying on a house cat in a tree in a back yard just after midnight. Hunter attended and found cougar claw marks on the tree bark, but did not see of the animal.
Three hours later, he received another call. The cougar had come back and killed two raccoons in the yard.
Officers tracked the big cat the next day and shot it.
Some people decried the shooting of the cougar, said Hunter, but given its habits and the location of its hunting grounds near homes, “public safety prevailed in this situation.”
“We respond when animals lie in wait, stalking, pursuing, and making kills of domestic animals, or are a danger to the public,” he said. “What was alarming to me was the cougar did a back-to-back kill, right after I left.”
Earlier this month, Mounties shot a cougar after it killed a dog at a home near the UBC Research Forest in Maple Ridge.
And in May, conservation officers killed a cougar after it was spotted prowling balconies and patios in West Vancouver’s Lower Capilano neighbourhood.
Not all reported sightings turn out to be cougar incidents, since some people can mistake bobcats and coyotes for cougars.
And despite the high number of reports, cougar attacks on humans are rare, said Hunter.
But people should still exercise caution during the summer months, he noted, especially if they live near wooded areas or are out in the backcountry or on trails with pets and small children.
Recent cougar encounters in B.C.
June 18: A cougar pounced on a cat outside a Port Alberni home, and dragged it into the woods.
June 15: Students at Forest Grove Elementary in Burnaby were kept inside the school during lunch and recess following two cougar sightings in the area.
June 7: A man hiking in the Malcolm Knapp University of B.C. Research Forest in Maple Ridge found his dog bleeding in the neck after a cougar attack.
June 2: A woman spotted a cougar in the trails near Capilano University in North Vancouver. The cougar turned back when it saw the woman.
May 31: An emaciated cougar jumped into a small boat on Sproat Lake, in the Alberni Valley, while a man was inside. It later fled back into the bush but remained in the campsite area. The cougar was later tracked down and destroyed.
May 31: An 800-pound young cow was killed by a cougar in a South Langley farm.
May 27: A young cougar nestled in a tree on Penticton’s Okanagan Lake waterfront near the landmark giant peach was shot with a tranquillizer gun.
May 12: A skinny male cougar attacked a dog in Sparwood. The dog was with several other dogs and their owners, who were out on an evening walk when the cougar made its move. Two days later, the cougar was spotted attacking another dog under a mobile home. The predatory cat was shot.
