Cougar Shot Dead in Coquitlam

On Thursday, a cougar was spotted in Coquitlam and had lunged at a woman while she was in her home, thankfully, however, the only thing between her and the cougar was a glass window. The cougar slammed into the glass, and then walked away. It is said that possibly the cougar was also stalking an 8 year old girl from her backyard. And for these 2 reasons, the cougar was killed rather than being relocated, according to conservation officer Don Stahl. Stahl speculated that the cougar was looking at humans as a source of food, and stated, "The risk was too great because it had lost all fear of people and had taken it an extra step by lunging at a person and being stopped only by the window." Due to the female cougar apparently being too aggressive, a Coquitlam park was forced to be closed by authorities. The cougar was killed as it was climbing into a tree in the backyard of a home on River Drive after 8 am. However, Al Martin, director of strategic initiatives for the B.C. Wildlife Federation, stated, "It was in a populated area with a lot of children, so there was a risk to public health and safety. It certainly sounds like it was exhibiting aggressive behaviour, (so) they had few other options. They could just be transplanting the problem (if the cougar was relocated). Martin also explained that fatal attacks by cougars are relatively rare, and stated, "About 25 in the last 100 years in North America, (and) about 100 attacks," but also explained that encounters between humans and cougars are becoming more frequent as development encroaches on wildlife habitat.


First off, I am shocked to hear that there was a cougar in the area where I live, and second, I am even more shocked to hear that it was killed. I feel that it was wrong to kill the cougar, rather than relocate it. It was a cougar that was trapped in an unknown environment, it is obviously going to be afraid and/or confused. I feel that it certainly take it an extra step by lunging at a woman, because it has no idea who the woman is, so it is highly possible that it felt threatened and tried to defend itself. The same goes for when she was stalking the girl, it is highly possible that she was observing the girl's movements because the cougar felt threatened or scared. So if the girl did anything that the cougar would assume to be a threat of some sort, it could act on time.  But instead of thinking clearly, police decide to kill the animal because this all leads to one thing: the HUMANS felt threatened, they could not care less that perhaps the cougar felt threatened. So they think that killing the animal will all lead to satisfaction. And I know that I am not the only person in the world who feels that's not true and that this action by police disgusts me.

Shot of the dead cougar

Sign indicating to be cautious due to cougar sighting











Article Source:
 "Cougar killed in Coquitlam after approaching homes, forcing park to close" by Brian Mortonand and Tiffany Crawford, May 30, 2013, Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Cougar+killed+Coquitlam+after+approaching+homes+forcing+park/8455577/story.html

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