A trail camera north of Campbell River recently captured a rare look at a cougar in the wild.
Ryan Yardley and his girlfriend set up the camera after they spotted a cougar mom and her kitten running across the highway outside the city late last month.
The video they captured a week later and shared with CTV News and on Instagram shows what they think is a yet third big cat prowling in the same general area.
While Vancouver Island is known to have one of the largest populations of cougars in the world, it’s still rare to see them in the wild.
In August, Mike Anderson spoke to CTV News about his encounter with a cougar while walking his dog in the Beaver Lodge Lands southwest of Campbell River.
Though he walks along the forest’s sprawling trail network twice a day, it was the first time he had ever seen a cougar in the area.
“It was a cool experience and I’m glad it happened,” he told CTV News at the time. “They’re in there all the time. It’s just a matter of when we see them or not.”
The province urges anyone who encounters a cougar to try to look as large as possible and back away slowly, keeping the cougar in front of them and ensuring the animal has a clear avenue of escape.
Turning one’s back on a cougar and running away may provoke an attack, according to the B.C. government’s guidelines.
“If a cougar shows interest or follows you, respond aggressively, maintain eye contact with the cougar, show your teeth and make loud noise,” the province says. “If a cougar attacks, fight back, convince the cougar you are a threat and not prey.”
With files from CTV News Vancouver Island’s Todd Coyne
