Renewed ‘bear-aware’ reminder after cougars put down

COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – After conservation officers had to put down a trio of cougars in Coquitlam over a three-day period, there is a warning out for people about dealing with another large animal that is also prevalent in those parts.

Sgt. Todd Hunter, with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service says the big cats were “aggressive and attacking domestic cats.”

He expects there will be more human-wildlife conflict as real estate development continues to encroach on wilderness areas.

Hunter says studies show that relocating cougars that have already become habituated to human areas can create more dangerous situations, because the cougars aren’t used to hunting in the wild and may become more aggressive if they’re hungry.

Now the city that generates the most calls about black bears in BC ever year, is reminding you to take proper precautions against attracting them or any other large animals.

“Our city (Coquitlam) generates the highest call volume actually in the province for human-bear conflict and attractant concerns. We generate around a thousand phone calls a year probably, regarding these issues,” says City of Coquitlam environmental services manager Steffanie Warriner.

Most of those calls are just for information, but Warriner says some are complaints from neighbours.

“We’ve issued 339 warnings and 62 tickets to date in 2018,” she points out.

“We don’t like to have to employ enforcement, that is actually the most difficult part of our jobs, but it does seem like that in some cases this the only way to get that message across. Issuing a 500-dollar-fine tends to have an immediate and lasting effect.”

Those numbers are on-par or even a slight decrease over last year.

But it’s still too many she adds.

“That said, we still have, we believe, too many people that aren’t following the city’s requirements to secure their garbage and other attractants. And this does remain an area of focus for the city,” says Warriner, adding education is preferred over enforcement.

“Everyone in Coquitlam has the responsibility to not attract bears and other wildlife into Coquitlam neighbourhoods. We’ve provided and extensive amount of education and outreach for over a decade now to help residents learn how to manage attractants on their properties. We also have bylaw requirements that the city does enforce.”

Unsecured garbage remains the chief concern.

With files from the Canadian Press