An early morning cougar sighting in Nanaimo has a nearby elementary school on edge, according to Mounties.
The big cat was spotted in the backyard of a home on King Richard Drive, close to Departure Bay Elementary School, before 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Neighbour Don Varey said he could hear dogs barking from the yard next door, and when his daughter let their own dogs out she spotted the cougar behind a fence.
“Lately here in the last couple days, all the area around Sugarloaf [Mountain], they’ve been spotted,” he said.
Police and conservation officers responded while school staff rounded up all Departure Bay students who weren’t already inside the building.
Mounties said while they look for the cougar, students would be allowed outside but not off school grounds.
CO officers actively looking for cougar and are in the area, children at Dep Bay sch allowed out but not off grounds #Nanaimo
— Nanaimo RCMP (@NanaimoRCMP) June 17, 2015
BC Conservation officer Troy Sterling confirmed there has been an increase in cougar sightings in the area in the last four to five days.
“Four days in a row near the school gives us a little concern,” he said. “They are definitely being sighted more often than normal.”
Varey said he believes he knows what’s bringing the dangerous animals into his neighbourhood.
“There’s a tremendous amount of deer. It’s almost at the point where something should be done with it because they’re everywhere,” he said. “That’s probably what attracted the cougars to here.”
Parents are being urged to pick up and drop their kids off from school while officers search for the cougar, and children who walk to school should stay in a group.
Those who encounter one of the animals are reminded to pick up children immediately, make themselves look big, make eye contact and never turn your back on the cougar.
If you spot a cougar, call the BC Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277 or 911.
