A cougar trap has been set up on Protection Island following multiple reports of a big cat roaming the island recently. (File photo/B.C. Government)

By Ian Holmes

big cat

VIDEO: Cougar trap set on Protection Island as anxious residents play waiting game

Dec 30, 2022 | 3:27 PM

NANAIMO — People are understandably on edge these days on Protection Island.

The small island in Nanaimo’s harbour home to about 380 people has been the source of numerous cougar sightings recently, triggering a response from the BC Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS).

Longtime resident David Essig helped coordinate the delivery of a remotely monitored live trap placed by the BCCOS on Thursday, Dec 29.

“It’s conceivable the animal may have left, we don’t know,” Essig told NanaimoNewsNOW on Friday afternoon. “It’s kind of an inconclusive story because we don’t really know what’s going on and we don’t have any way of monitoring it unless it goes into the trap or not.”

Essig said the trap is concealed in the backyard of the property where the cougar killed a deer.

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In a Dec. 23 tweet the BCCOS stated multiple cougar sightings had been reported on the island.

Conservation officers believe the cougar swam over to Protection Island from nearby Saysutshun (Newcastle Island).

While the cougar hasn’t endangered humans so far, Essig said local residents are keenly aware a big cat could be nearby.

“Virtually nobody’s out at night unless they are in a golf cart or a vehicle and not many people are out in the daytime walking around either. We have a lot of families here with children and there’s been a big issue about making sure the kids are safe.”

Video surveillance footage captured this week showed the cougar leaping over a gate outside a Protection Island home.

A conservation officer was not available for an interview with NanaimoNewsNOW.

The BCSOS issued a statement acknowledging multiple cougar sightings on Protection Island in the past week and that they are “monitoring this situation closely.”

Protection Islanders are reminded to keep attractants such as garbage and pet food properly stored and pets leashed or kept inside.

Children should be kept within sight.

People should make noise as you move, surprise encounters with cougars should be avoided, according to the BCCOS statement.

Wild animals such as cougars and bears rarely appear on Protection Island.

A black bear was briefly on the island in May 2019.

A big cat had to be relocated after it was found up a tree in the early morning hours near the Nanaimo hospital in early March.

Wildlife sightings in which public safety is at risk should be called into the provincial RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.

—with files from The Canadian Press

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