A mother cougar was euthanized in Penticton Wednesday, the day after three of her cubs were put down.
The cubs and their mother had been seen multiple times in daylight hours, prompting warnings at schools in the area.
Sgt. Jim Beck with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said that in his 30 years of service he has never seen an adult cougar so habituated to humans as the mother was.
Tuesday morning it was seen "demonstrating stalking behaviour" toward a dog in a residential neighbourhood, and was recently blamed for a dead bighorn sheep found near a school. The mother is also believed to have killed a deer which was left in a resident's yard, and does not appear to be afraid of humans in the area.
Believed to be a safety risk to the public, officers euthanized the cubs on Tuesday. The mother was caught overnight in a baited trap left in a residential area and put down Wednesday morning.
Beck said the cougar had started venturing deeper into developed urban areas during daylight hours, and was teaching the cubs to do the same. He said relocation would not have worked, because the family of cats had already learned the dangerous behaviour.
