Cougar believed to be responsible for B.C. attack killed: conservation service

AGASSIZ, B.C. – The British Columbia Conservation Officer Service says it believes it has killed the cougar responsible for an attack on Tuesday that left a woman in hospital with serious injuries.

The service’s predator attack team located two healthy, juvenile male cougars near where the attack took place on a property west of Agassiz, about 110 kilometres east of Vancouver.

The service says the animals could not be relocated, due to the threat they posed, and both were killed.

It says it understands that people may feel passionately about the animals and their well-being, but its focus is on public safety.

The victim in Tuesday’s attack remains in hospital, but the service says she is now in stable condition.

A series of cougar sightings and attacks on dogs earlier this spring in the Port Moody area of Metro Vancouver led to one cougar being caught and euthanized.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2021.