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Rare big cats live locally

MOUNTAIN lions are among the rarest and Most secretive animals on earth.

“Eco-tourists” pay thou- sands of dollars just for the chance to sce one, and vet a cougar was scen in” the Pemberton area this summer. A few years ago a big cat was chasing people in the Seymour Demonstration Forest. the past four or five years has been a resident lion on Burnaby Mountain. B.C.’s conservation officer for the Surrey district, which includes the North Shore, receives reports of sightings about once every two weeks. It would seem that our. local’ mountain lions like to come down from the mountain on a fairly regular basis.

Old and yearling cats are the most likely animals to be found in close proximity to humans.

Taking down deer or other fleet-footed prey becomes more difficult for an ageing predator so they will curn to taking the slower moving pets

- and raccoons, found in abun-

dance in the city. .

Young cougars, during their second summer, are forced by their mothers to find there own way in the world. It is the search for new hunting

, grounds that brings these juve-

into our yards.

"Known by many names (mountain lion, puma, panther, catamount, lis’ concolor) cougars. are formidable crea-

reece 90

While an individual cougar will develop a taste for a partic- ular kind of prey, they will hunt

t anything’ from a 600 Ib. moose to small rodents, includ- ing, very occasionally, humans.

“According to a 1996

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brochure written by the B.C. Ministry of Environment only five people have been killed by cougars in B.C. during the past one-hundred vears, with all but one of these attacks occurring on Vancouver Island.

There have also been oven- ty nine non-fatal maulings Children under the age of six- teen were the most common victims. It seems that a child's high pitched voice and sudden movements can attract cougars and trigger their hunting instincts.

Occasionally one of these cats will lose its fear of man in favour of the casily available food found around our homes.

A cougar was reported actu- ally hunting people who were walking and riding bicycles on the trails in the Seymour Demonsrration Forest during the summer of 1996. Given their know trait of developing a taste for a type of prey, it was concluded that this cat could start hunting people even in a remote area.

The difficult decision was made to exercise the only other viable option and the animal was destroyed,

There are precautions that people can take to further reduce the already low risk of an attack. If a cougar has been spotted in your area:

@ Avoid walking alonc.

B& When outside make noise to keep from surprising a cougar. @ Ensure that your children know about mountain lions and what to do if they sce one. ® Escort your children to school or bus stops.

@ Always supervise children playing outside and encourage them to play in groups.

® Do nor leave pet food out- side at any time.

@ Dogs provide carly warnin of the presence of most wildli and a big dog can be an effce- tive deterrent to attack.

@ Cougars hunt at any time so

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the only way to fully protect cats and small dogs is to keep them inside and walk them on a leash. Livestock should be kept in pens with covers, espe- cially at night.

@ Do nor feed squirrels, rac- coons, deer or other wildlife as these animals are a cougar’s natural prev.

If you see a cougar:

B Do not approach a cougar, ly her young. A mother iy detend her family. @ Give the animal an avenue of escape, cougars will usually seck to flee the presence of humans. @ Face the mountain lion while avoiding eve contact and back away slowly. Do not run. B Talk to the cougar in a firm and confident voice. By letting it know that vou are a human it will be more likely perceive you as a threat and not prey. @ Pick children and smail pets up off the ground. § Do not allow dogs to chase a cougar. @ Report the sighting to the District. Conservation Officer at 604-582-5200.

Ifa cougar approaches you: @ Do everything possible to make yourself look bigger. Wave hands and sticks around or hold your coat or bag above your head.

@ Throw anything you can towards the animal — rocks, sticks etc. @ People have been known to survive cougar attacks, fight back, even if the only weapon you have is your fists.

Report any aggressive encounter to the police.

There are few things more frightening than unexpectedly encountering a large predator, however there are also few

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things more exciting than see- ing one from a safe distance.

Cougars are magnificent animals that have been torced into the last remaining empty spaces by man’s relentless pres- sure. It would seem that their abundance in this area squeezes them back onto our doorstep.

If the cougars survival as a species depends on our under- standing, then we in the Lower Mainland have a special respon- sibility to learn all we can about how to cope with and encour- age this big cat.

And if you see a cougar con- sider yourself lucky as tew peo- ple ever see one of these beau- tiful creatures.

—Ted Darling operates North Vancouver based Urban Wildlife Management.

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