A boy from Vancouver Island survives the attack of a cougar

A boy from Lake Cowichan, British Columbia, was released from the hospital after two cougars attacked him on Friday.

The boy was mutilated by the big cats at the edge of his yard, sending him to the hospital with "serious superficial injuries" until Saturday morning, according to BC. Conservation Inspector, Ben York.

"[There were] claws and bites on the head and arm. Fortunately, he [are] no fracture or internal injury and we expect him to recover fully, "said York in an interview Sunday.

He declined to indicate the exact age of the boy, citing confidentiality, but added that he was between 5 and 10 years old.

He also said that the boy's mother had removed the cougar from his son, which caused him slight bite marks in his hand. After arriving at the scene, a B.C. conservation team killed both animals involved.

This kind of attack is extremely rare, said Mr. York. He added that his team did not understand exactly why these cougars had attacked the child, but noted that they were both young, emaciated and in very poor condition.

"Often we do not have a clue [why] they attack a human being, "he said. It seems obvious from the outside, this time, that these animals were starving, for whatever reason. "

An autopsy will be performed on both animals next week.

Paula Wild, author from British Columbia, who wrote the 2013 book The cougar: beautiful, wild and dangerous, said Vancouver Island has the highest density of cougars in the world. She explained that it was difficult to find the exact number, but she cited between 4,000 and 11,000 people living in the province.

However, according to the Vancouver Island Wilderness and Historical Conservation website, a non-profit site hosted by the University of Victoria, Canada has about 4,000 cougars, of which 3,500 live in British Columbia. Nearly a quarter of them reside on Vancouver Island.

Because of this density, Vancouver Island also has the highest attack rate, Wild said.

"No matter who [who] living or going to Vancouver Island should be aware of that, "she said in an interview. "Just take precautions, especially if you are in a rural area where there are green spaces or something. really pay attention to children. "

York said that grandchildren may be more attractive to cougars than adults because they are smaller and often act as prey.

"They will scream and scream, do things that are more appealing to cougars," he said.

The WildSafeBC website indicates that cougars record approximately 2,500 calls each year to the Conservation Officer Service line. However, Mr. York stated that he had no evidence that such attacks were increasing.

Vanessa Isnardy, provincial coordinator of WildSafeBC, said that cougar attacks were less likely than grizzly bear or black bear attacks.

However, attacks and cougar attacks often attract the attention of the media, especially when cats end up in urban and residential areas. In 2017, two cougars were spotted walking along the SkyTrain track at Port Moody. In 2015, one of them was seen several times in downtown Victoria.

Ms. Isnardy added that during the past five years, there have been 15 cougar attacks in BC that resulted in injuries, including the incident that occurred on Friday. , and no deaths have been recorded.