Rhya Wang/Staff reporter

According to the article “Juvenile cougar killed in Port Coquitlam after youth possible stalked” written by Tiffany Crawford on February 17, 2021, a juvenile male cougar shot by conservation officers in Port Coquitlam after the 14 years-old boy possible stalked, and the incident follows several cougar attacks on dogs in the past few weeks in Tri-Cities region.

This year the cougars are especially active, a juvenile cougar was located in the area and euthanized, but the second cougar that was reportedly seen but was not be tracked successfully. Those cougars are believed to be linked to several dog attacks on the Coquitlam area.

Students in Gleneagle, also as public in Tri-Cities should keep remain aware of their surroundings and keep safety tips in mind. If students find a dangerous animal in school, they should just go back to the classroom or move to a safe area immediately and tell the teacher. 

Sally Mao, a student in Gleneagle said, there is no prevention as good as preventing things from happening, people should try their best to avoid dangerous wild animals enter their school. Remind students not to throw rubbish outside the school, which will attract animals is important. The presence of food in the garbage does attract bears. Also, remind and train each student to be alert to society, which is conducive to their self-protection ability. 

Dogs and cats are also the target of cougars. Friday at 11p.m, the cougar grabbed a 3 mouths old dog from its backyard and ran away. 

On February 10, the service reported a cougar had taken a small dog that was running off-leash with two other dogs in front of a Coquitlam home. 

Two days earlier the service reported a cougar had attacked a small dog at Buntzen Lake. “‘We are asking the public to remain aware of their surroundings, keep safety tips in mind, and report sightings,’ said acting Sgt. Alicia Stark of the conservation service’s Fraser North zone. Stark said the two Coquitlam incidents could have been the same cat, but the Buntzen Lake report involved a different animal,” according to the article“Juvenile cougar killed in Port Coquitlam after youth possible stalked” written by Crawford.

As people live in the place with wild animals, people’s safety around wild animals is remarkable, so make sure the kids and youth understand how do deal with these situations are significant. Also, people should strengthen education on it at school, because school is the only place can ensure every student will attend and be educated. 

“‘Keep your kids close to you. You can definitely be outside with them, but keep them close and be aware of what you need to do if you see a cougar,’ Stark said. That is, back away slowly so the cougar has an escape path, and act aggressively.

Residents are asked not to place pet and bird food outside, as that attracts raccoons and squirrels — and they in turn attract cougars. Stark said the cougars’ primary food source is deer.” According to the “Juvenile cougar killed in Port Coquitlam after youth possible stalked” written by Tiffany Crawford. 

URL: https://vancouversun.com/news/juvenile-cougar-killed-in-port-coquitlam-after-youth-possibly-stalked