Three young cougars were killed by conservation officers after attacking a dog near a daycare on Vancouver Island.

A man was walking his dog in Port Hardy near Kwigwis Daycare yesterday afternoon when one of the cougars attacked.

Conservation officers the three cougar kittens since they were first spotted in the community on July 2. They香蕉视频直播檝e been seen multiple times since then.

香蕉视频直播淭he man and a summer student leaped into action hitting and kicking the cougar to get the dog loose,香蕉视频直播� said resident Margaret McDougall in a message to the . 香蕉视频直播淭hen another cougar jumped out of the bushes to pick up the dog and they fought off that cougar too - this all happened a few feet from the gate to our daycare and steps from our summer daycamp.香蕉视频直播�

McDougall said the RCMP, a conservation officer, and a hunter were then called to the scene.

香蕉视频直播淭en days ago we had a report of three young cougars on the Fort Rupert First Nation and at the time we were unsure if there was an adult female with the young,香蕉视频直播� said Murray Smith, Inspector of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service for the West Coast Region.

Smith said the cougars were all sub-adults in the six to 12 month age range, so conservation wasn香蕉视频直播檛 able to determine if they were orphaned or if the mother had released them.

香蕉视频直播淭he approach at the time was to do some education with the chief and council in the hopes that we could make everyone aware that these cougars were around and we were hoping they could reunite with the female,香蕉视频直播� said Smith.

Conservation had also reached out to the Greater Vancouver Zoo in the hopes they could take the cougars if they were in fact orphans. 香蕉视频直播淯nfortunately we continued over consecutive days to have reports of these young cougars seen around the community,香蕉视频直播� said Smith.

Once they determined the cougars were not leaving not their own, conservation focused on preforming a live capture.

Smith said even after the cougars attacked the dog, their immediate intent was to tranquilize the cougars and transport them to the Vancouver Zoo.

香蕉视频直播淭he one criteria identified to us was to make sure they were healthy, but by the time we got there we ended up finding that all three of them were extremely emaciated and one of them had been previously shot and had a broken leg.香蕉视频直播�

He said based on the condition of the young cougars, the humane decision was to put them all down. 香蕉视频直播淚t was an unfortunate situation and the staff was really disappointed - we hoped we had the opportunity to rehabilitate them at the zoo,香蕉视频直播� said Smith.

Conservations doesn香蕉视频直播檛 believe there is an adult female in the area, and without a mother the cubs wouldn香蕉视频直播檛 have the skills to hunt, leading them to stay in the community looking for easy prey.