The Sunshine Coast conservation officer service is tracking a series of cougar sightings in the Welcome Woods area of Halfmoon Bay.
The first sighting occurred June 26 on Fran-ces Road, near Halfmoon Bay Elementary School, during the second-last day of school. As a result of the sighting, students living in the area were not permitted to walk home from school, but instead were driven home by parents or on school buses.
On July 4, the conservation office received another sighting of a cougar in Connor Park, situated near the school.
Two days later, a cougar was spotted on a trail off Cooper Road known as Frog Lane.
"It was seen by somebody riding a horse," said conservation officer Sgt. Murray Smith. "It was a small cougar and it ran away."
Smith said it isn't clear if the reports are of the same cougar, but factors such as the nine-day gap between the first and second calls make the situation "a bit spotty" and less urgent than last month's cougar incident in the Bonniebrook area near Gibsons.
On June 10 the conservation officer service and Sunshine Coast RCMP euthanized an adult cougar in Bonniebrook after receiving a total of 17 calls over three days.
The step was taken after the cougar demonstrated no fear of human presence and repeatedly approached people walking dogs or escorting small children, Smith said.
"That was one we had to respond to. This one is a bit spottier," he said.
Smith's office has received a total of 47 cougar calls this year, 36 of them in June.
"It's not a bad year. We've had up to 100 calls in a year," he said.
In up to 50 per cent of sightings, cougars are misidentified, he said.
"People see a flash go across the road. It could be a coyote or a bobcat or a house cat."
Despite the false alarms, cougar sightings are quite common on the Sunshine Coast, Smith said.
"It's a fabulous habitat, so we're always going to have them coming through. We have a lot of deer in the urban fringe and they're a primary prey species for cougar, so they come in following the deer and they stay around," he said.
Human activity should push cougars back into the wild, "but if they're not so healthy, they may stay in the community because there are easy pickings."
During his eight years on the Sunshine Coast, Smith said a total of four cougars have been destroyed.
"It's not a whole lot," he said, "considering in eight years we've had hundreds of calls."
To prepare for a cougar encounter, Smith said parents should educate their children to stay in groups and make noise if a cougar appears. Younger children should not be unsupervised.
"The vulnerability period is 10 years and younger. It's possible an adult can be attacked, but it's rare," he said.
If confronted with a cougar, a person should raise their arms to make themselves as large and imposing as possible, be aggressive in tone of voice, keep their eyes on the cougar, and walk slowly backwards.
"Make sure they know you're the dominant animal in the forest," Smith said. "Don't run. If you're an adult, pick up your small dogs and small children, and if you're in the forest, keep your kids close."
To report a cougar, call 1-877-952-7277.
