In a recent letter to the editor in the Times Colonist, retired wildlife biologist John Thornton is a scientific voice of reason as calls for a cull in Oak Bay due to cougar sightings begin to escalate.

While residents should be careful to keep cats indoors, dogs on leashes, and small children under supervision with a cougar in the vicinity, we need to also be mindful that deer are not the reason that cougars come into Oak Bay.

As John Thornton says (along with other wildlife biologists and conservation officers), “Cougars are territorial, and young ones are forced into marginal areas by mature cats that occupy the best territories. This sometimes means living nearer to people than the cougar would like”.

Mr. Thornton also states that cougars have no way of knowing that deer are in Oak Bay. Conservation officers and wildlife biologists have repeatedly commented that a cougar in an urban area is far more likely to prey on raccoons and small animals such as cats. They will also prey on harbour seals and river otters.

The Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society continues to prepare for a scientific pilot project on immuno-contraception. Stabilizing and reducing the deer population in a humane, scientific, economical and sustainable manner is a realistic goal that needs to be fully explored, and public education is critical to ensure residents are accurately informed.

There has been a cougar sighting in Oak Bay, and residents should use caution when out walking, particularly with pets and small children.

Cougars wander into the CRD every year from west of Goldstream – they have no idea whether there are deer in Oak Bay, Saanich or Victoria until they arrive. They find raccoons, rabbits and livestock an easier prey than wild deer, along with domestic animals – so it’s important to keep your pets close.

Although there are many deer in Oak Bay, according to conservation officers COUGARS wander into urban areas “unwittingly” and the correlation between deer and cougars that one would find in the wild does not necessarily translate into an urban area. Cougars have been sighted in the CRD over many years, and removing deer will not prevent the occasional cougar from coming into Oak Bay.

A recent editorial in the Times Colonist, Province should lead on deer issue, calls on science and research for deer management.

The Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society is happy that the province is going to be providing some leadership and funding for the management of urban deer. We are particularly pleased to see that some funding will go towards research projects.

The UWSS has been calling for science based solutions, in particular immuno-contraception as a long term and sustainable solution, along with the collection of scientific information to help inform urban deer ecology – multiple and proper deer counts that provide information on numbers and deer movement patterns being particularly important.

The province has also called for socially acceptable solutions and immuno-contraception provides a good fit.

While the province is ultimately responsible for deer, there needs to be regional coordination and long term planning, and municipalities must still undertake responsibility for public education in their communities on ways to co-exist with deer, and human-deer conflict reduction strategies such as speed enforcement, enforcement of no-feeding bylaws, appropriate signage and accessing the expertise of wildlife biologists.

The UWSS looks forward to being part of the solution!