A three-year-old Brackendale girl is said to be OK following a cougar attack Tuesday evening (June 16) at Fisherman's Park near the bank of the Squamish River.
"She has a few puncture wounds on her head. He was holding her head with his paws," said mother Maureen Lee while holding daughter Maya Espinosa during a press conference at Cottonwood Park Wednesday (June 17). "She has a little owee on her arm that the doctor made all better and she is doing really good."
It's the first time a cougar has attacked a person in the Sea to Sky, according to COS representative Chris Doyle.
Lee and her daughter were out with their dog, picking berries at approximately 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, when Lee turned around and saw an approximately 80-lbs male cougar on top of her daughter.
"And at first I thought it was a dog because I have a dog and it was another dog running to play with them," said Lee. "And then I realized what it was, and in a split second he was on her the way he kind of pushed her. He jumped on her so she rolled a couple of times and he got on her - on top of her in the fetal position, and she laid really still was really smart and brave."
The girl thought the cougar was playing with her when it swiped her from behind, her father, Pablo Espinosa, told the CBC after the incident.
The mother fought off the cat, described as young, male and in good condition by Doyle.
"I pushed him off and stood up and flung him off of me, but he let me I think," said Lee. "He was conceding at that point, but I don't know. It felt kind of effortless but I don't know if that was the adrenaline or if he was light.
"It wasn't until we started running that fear really kicked in."
Five conservation officers aided by two dogs and their handlers tracked the animal until it was spotted and shot near Depot and Government Rd. at approximately 10:15 p.m.
Brackendale residents were asked to retrieve their pets if outside and remain indoors. Doyle said residents helped by immediately reporting sightings as the cat prowled the area's backyards and green spaces.
The cougar will be subject of an autopsy and DNA analysis to determine if it was the one involved in the attack and determine its health status, said Doyle.
Lee said she and her family happen to be moving back to Mexico Saturday (June 20).
"It was a funny way to say goodbye to Squamish."
Over 30 sightings reported
The incident follows on the heels of at least 30 cougar sightings in less than two weeks, and caused local schools to cancel field excursions (see page A35 for more details).
The reports of encounters involved apparent stalking of people and children, and two incidents in which a cougar took dogs right off their owners' leashes.
In one occurrence, a couple of hikers ignoring a trail closure at the Stawamus Chief Saturday morning (June 13) came face-to-face with a cougar that brazenly carried off their small, leashed dog.
A two-minute video on youtube.com taken by the unidentified husband of the couple showed the cougar moments after the attack as it sniffed its surroundings, seemingly unfazed by the presence of people just metres away.
That dog survived, but the same cougar killed and ate another dog the day before. It was an emaciated female, and was tracked and killed Saturday afternoon.
Another incident last Friday involved a mother and daughter in their yard on Hospital Hill. As the cougar approached, the mother threw a rock at it, causing it to retreat, said Doyle.
"I've been really impressed with mothers lately," he said.
The COS now has heightened presence, now deemed the highest cougar encounter area in the province, according to Doyle. Eight conservation officers and two dog teams are tracking the area.
"We'll stay as long as we feel we need to be here," he said.
He said the COS will not take drastic measures to cull the cougar population, but rather deal with the cats on a case-by-case basis.
"We'll take every situation and analyze the situation and the health of the animal and obviously any cougar predacious on humans will likely get destroyed.
"It's more a matter of dealing with conflict animals when we get the reports and making sure the public is aware of areas where they may encounter cougars and their appropriate response when they encounter a cougar."
Meeting generates questions
A swarm of provincial and national media descended on Squamish for a news conference at the Squamish RCMP detachment Wednesday morning and a town hall meeting with COS representatives at Municipal Hall Wednesday night. More than 60 members of the public showed up to ask questions of conservation officers Doyle and Dave Jevons.
A Brackendale father of three kids under 10, Gerald Wolfe said he attended the meeting to get more information on how to avoid and deal with cougar encounters.
"I was scared when I heard [of the attack]," he said, adding his family is very outdoorsy.
But, he said, they will now be modifying their behaviour.
"I think we're going to avoid the early morning and twilight hours, stay in groups and make lots of noise."
Local realtor and mother of a four-year-old boy, Larina Bouwman, approached the podium in council chambers to ask what parents of young children should do to keep them safe.
Doyle said it depends on where the family lives. If a backyard borders on bush, he said, keep the children very close.
In a follow-up interview, Bouwman said she was "devastated" to hear of the Espinosa family's ordeal.
"It breaks your heart instantly, it's like it's happening to your own child when you hear something like that happened."
A 37-year Garibaldi Highlands resident, Bouwman said the growing wildlife presence in her area is obvious.
"We never saw bears in our yard when I was a kid and now it's absolutely normal to see bears in our yard. So is that going to happen with cougars? Why have we never heard that before and all of a sudden are hearing it?"
Council a no-show
Local environmentalist John Buchanan took the podium to bring up his longstanding fight to establish better local wildlife management, saying the District of Squamish's promised eco-sensitivity map of the valley has never come to fruition (see page A14 for more details). He sat down to applause, but the message may be lost since not a single council member attended the town hall meeting.
Doyle and Jevons said issues of broader wildlife management, including developments encroaching into animal habitat and loss of wildlife corridors, is outside their mandate.
