A cougar prowling outside a hospital on central Vancouver Island this morning was tranquilized and safely relocated.
In a social media post, B.C. Conservation Officer Service said the male cougar was spotted Thursday, March 3, near Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, and with the assistance of dogs, officers were able to locate the cougar at a parking lot of a nearby daycare facility around 9 a.m.
The cougar was tranquilized and assessed with the assistance of wildlife biologists with the B.C. Ministry of Forest, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, stated the media post. As there was no previous history of conflict or aggressive behaviour, officials decided to relocate the cougar and subsequently released it in a wilderness area outside Nanaimo city limits.
Nanaimo RCMP and Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, as well as people calling the Report All Poachers and Polluters line, assisted B.C. Conservation.
Officials suspect the cougar may have been searching for deer.
For more information on what to do in the event of a cougar sighting, go to https://tinyurl.com/muv3c7zs.
The #BCCOS would like to thank the @NanaimoRCMP and @VanIslandHealth for their assistance, as well as those who called the #RAPP line.
— BC CO Service (@_BCCOS) March 3, 2022
For more information: https://t.co/AxYAjIFhrz pic.twitter.com/yozelUvYZX
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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