By Tanya Cronin

Cougar sighting prompts warning from wildlife officials

Mar 22, 2018 | 4:35 PM

KAMLOOPS — An update now on the situation involving a cougar in downtown Kamloops Wednesday morning. Reports suggest the cub has been put down because it was too young to fend for itself and wouldn’t be able to survive on its own. 

The young cougar perched outside the Ashley Court apartment building on Nicola Street sparked the public’s interest. When the cat wouldn’t leave on its own, conservation officers tranquillized the cub. WildSafeBC officials say it’s not typical to find a cougar in a heavily populated area, unless there’s a good reason for it.  

“When cougars do come into town, they’re younger cougars who haven’t learned to hunt yet or they have become displaced, male cougars are very territorial, they will drive off any of the young males in the area, they may be hunting for food here, we do have a good urban deer population,” says Frank Ritcey, Provincial WildSafeBC Coordinator.

Now that the snow is melting, bears have also been spotted in neighbourhoods like Juniper Ridge. While it’s early and there’s not a lot of natural food for them, if bruins get into garbage early they’ll become habituated and problematic. 

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“The city bylaw comes into effect April 1st, and that precludes the setting out of putting garbage cans early, so it’s really important that we get on top of that early, the other thing is take in those bird feeders, a lot of people like to feed birds through the winter, but once the bears are out, they’re going to target that bird seed because it is so high in calories,” says Ritcey.