Cougar blamed for killing three sheep and an emu on Vancouver Island

PARKSVILLE — Residents of a Vancouver Island community are sounding the alarm after blaming an aggressive cougar for killing three sheep and an emu in the past week.

The owners of the Truffle Farm in Parksville, B.C., about 155 kilometres northwest of Victoria, say they found two of their sheep dead from an apparent cougar attack Saturday morning.

The farm says the neighbouring property then had a sheep killed the next night and an emu the night after that, prompting people in the community to start patrolling the area in an effort to ward off the animal.

Virginia Brietzke, who owns the Truffle Farm with her husband, says they’ve slept very little since Saturday as they patrol their fenced property in an effort to protect their animals.

Brietzke says she’s especially worried about potential danger to humans, since children from a nearby elementary school take nature walks every week in the woods next to the farm and the area has a cheese maker and that draws significant foot traffic from tourists.

She says they and their neighbours have reported their animals’ deaths to authorities, and were told to install a motion sprinkler to deter the cougar, get a guard dog or keep their animals in a barn.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says in an email that it was contacted by those who lost their animals and “determined there has been no aggressive cougar behaviour toward people in this area.”

The service says cougar encounters are common on Vancouver Island where there’s a “healthy” population.

“All reported incidents have occurred during nighttime hours, which is consistent with typical cougar predation behaviour,” the service says. “Cougars may prey on livestock that is left unsecured overnight. Livestock owners are strongly encouraged to secure animals in enclosed structures such as barns or outbuildings during nighttime hours.”

Brietzke says that isn’t always possible in their situation.

“We’re such a big flock, we don’t have a huge barn for all of the animals,” she says, adding that she told a conservation officer about their situation.

“We have lots of little sheds, so we asked if he’d be able to come in, you know, take a look — and he said no.”

Brietzke says she and her husband spotted the cougar on their patrol, and her husband was able to get within a few feet of the animal, showing it was “tame” in terms of not being afraid of people.

“If it’s that tame, not scared of people, there are problems with potentially it thinking humans are about the same size as our sheep,” Brietzke says. “Actually, my sheep are bigger than me, so I would be a snack for them.”

The Conservation Officer Service says it continues to monitor the situation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2026.

— By Chuck Chiang in Vancouver