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May 25, 2016 - 12:33 PM
PENTICTON - A cougar sighting in the city earlier this week is being monitored by the conservation office.
Penticton Conservation Officer Sgt. Jim Beck says the cougar was spotted by a Penticton resident crossing the street in the area of Hatfield Avenue and Allison Street, north of Carmi Avenue, at roughly 7:30 a.m., Sunday, May 22, not far from Columbia Elementary School.
“The cougar basically crossed the road and took off into a green belt area,” Beck says, adding the neighbourhood backs up to natural habitat where a number of urban deer might live.
Beck says the conservation office has not had any other reports since the Sunday sighting, and believes the cougar was probably hunting some of the urban deer in the area.
He notes there was a cat was sighted at the edge of town feeding on some of the deer in that area earlier in the season. He believes that cat might be starting to prey on the less wary urban deer which habituate green belts within the city.
“We’re concerned about it, but as long as the cougar is doing what it’s supposed to be doing, we won’t interfere,” he says, adding there have not been any reports of residents missing pets in the area.
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