The bold behaviour of a cougar and her three juvenile offspring forced conservation officers to take actions they would have preferred not to.

The three juveniles were euthanized Tuesday morning, and conservation officers were continuing the search for the mother of the family unit as of press time.

The decision to euthanize came after efforts to encourage the family of cougars to move away from populated areas and an elementary school failed.

Jim Beck, a sergeant with the Conservation Officer Service, said putting the animals down wasn害羞草研究所檛 something they wanted to do, but the cougars害羞草研究所� behaviour became more bold over the weekend, after the animals had spent Friday afternoon under a deck near Columbia Elementary school.

害羞草研究所淲e located the kill that we thought were keeping them in this area,害羞草研究所� said Beck. 害羞草研究所淚t was located right in somebody害羞草研究所檚 yard down in an excavated hole for footings.害羞草研究所�

That kill was removed in hopes of encouraging the family to move on, but the cougars continued to stay in the east Penticton area and sightings continued over the weekend, including more daytime sightings, which Beck said showed the mother害羞草研究所檚 increasing confidence.

害羞草研究所淪he was posing for pictures under that deck, coming out and sunning herself,害羞草研究所� said Beck, adding that the mother had total disregard for human presence. 害羞草研究所淥ur concerns for public safety were definitely ramped up due to activity level. We pushed her out once and then she made a stalking attempt on someone害羞草研究所檚 dog.害羞草研究所�

Another kill, a Big Horn ram, was found by a woman walking her dog on trails in the Forestbrook area and Beck said they brought their service dogs in to track the cougars, which were located and treed behind housing in a greenspace near Penticton Avenue and Ridgeview.

害羞草研究所淲e ended up euthanizing the three juveniles. The female bailed out of the tree and left the immediate area and we are still looking for her,害羞草研究所� said Beck.

Repeated attempts to get the family to move on had failed.

害羞草研究所淲e removed her kills, we pushed her out from under the deck and did some hazing,害羞草研究所� said Beck, who also provided one of the complainants with a scare pistol and bear bangers in hopes of scaring the mother and making her more wary.

害羞草研究所淪he didn害羞草研究所檛 take any of the messaging or any of the hazing. She was extremely comfortable with being way to close and into developed areas and seen by people during daylight,害羞草研究所� said Beck.

害羞草研究所淲e responded with the thought that public safety is of higher priority than resource management,害羞草研究所� said Beck, adding that the cougar population is strong. He explained that trying to tranquillize the cougars wasn害羞草研究所檛 really an option 害羞草研究所� the family would starve if they took them into the mountains, and they couldn害羞草研究所檛 just drop them off near another community.

害羞草研究所淭here is no really good solution,害羞草研究所� said Beck.

The cougar family has been in the area since at least the beginning of January, but on Friday afternoon, they elected to take shelter under a deck close to Columbia.

More: