No cougars in Nova Scotia, province says, despite reported sightings and rumours - BERITAJA

A suspected cougar sighting successful East Pubnico, N.S., is reigniting online statement about the beingness of cougars successful Nova Scotia.

The eastbound cougar, which is simply a subspecies of the cougar successful eastbound North America, was declared extinct by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service successful 2011.

Meanwhile, occidental cougars beryllium and thrive successful occidental parts of Canada and the United States.

Despite grounds from Parks Canada pointing to the beingness of cougars successful neighbouring New Brunswick, arsenic good arsenic hundreds of reports complete the years, the Nova Scotia authorities maintains location is nary cougar organization successful the province.

Biologist Bob Bancroft has been studying the reported sightings — including his ain firsthand acquisition — and is definite eastbound cougars are not extinct arsenic group are led to believe.

“There person been hundreds of reports,” said Bancroft. “The charismatic connection has ne'er been allowed to travel out. It’s that simple, I’m afraid.”

In the early 2000s, Parks Canada conducted a investigation study successful Fundy National Park, which confirmed the beingness of cougars done baited hair-traps and cameras. With the males known to rotation much than 2,000 km, Bancroft says it’s not a astonishment location person been encounters successful Nova Scotia.

In 2009, he says he was fortunate capable to person 1 of his own.

“I was driving astatine 11 o’clock successful the greeting and present was this cougar stepping crossed a broadside road, about apt about 30 metres distant from maine successful wide daylight,” he said.

Kimberly Brown says she had a akin incident and is definite she encountered a cougar — besides successful 2009 — successful Pictou, N.S.

“We were conscionable driving and it was acheronian retired successful the summer. So, we conscionable saw thing tally crossed the roadworthy and we stopped,” she recalled.

“My friend that was pinch maine was like, ‘Uh, that’s a cougar.’ And we saw the tail. We cognize the quality betwixt a bobcat and a cougar. So that’s decidedly what it is.”

Since then, Brown has been reference up connected cougars and sharing stories online pinch different group who judge they’ve had akin sightings. She encourages group to stock videos and photos to confirm, erstwhile and for all, that a organization does beryllium successful Nova Scotia.

“There were truthful galore sightings, for illustration each complete Nova Scotia. And I cognize for a truth they are successful Ontario. I’ve been told they’re successful New Brunswick arsenic well. So there’s thing stopping them from crossing (the separator to Nova Scotia),” she said.

“I cognize they’re very elusive, truthful they effort to stay unseen anyway, and they recreation astatine nighttime aliases dusk, truthful it’s difficult to get a image of them if you were going to anyway.”

While skeptics are speedy to constitute disconnected sightings arsenic bobcats aliases lynx, the tail speaks for itself.

According to Bancroft, Lynx person jacked-up rear ends and bigger feet than bobcats, but some person short, stubby tails. A cougar’s tail, however, is agelong for illustration an oversized location cat’s.

A video posted from Digby Neck, N.S., posted successful 2019, shows what appears to beryllium 3 cougars successful a woman’s backyard. And conscionable past week, different cougar sighting was reported successful East Pubnico connected a Yarmouth organization Facebook page.

‘No confirmed grounds of cougars’

In a statement, the Department of Natural Resources said location is “no confirmed grounds of cougars successful Nova Scotia since earlier 1900” but that the section continues “to return each reported sightings seriously.”

“While reports are received and investigated each year, nary person ever resulted successful confirmed beingness evidence, for illustration hair, tracks, aliases scat of a cougar successful Nova Scotia and currently, location is nary grounds to propose a resident organization exists successful the province,” the connection added.

The section said different areas of Eastern Canada, including New Brunswick successful 2003, person had beingness grounds of cougars. In the lawsuit of New Brunswick, the section says familial testing confirmed 2 different individual animals.

“Experts propose these records about apt progressive cougars passing done the region aliases escaped captives alternatively than a breeding population,” the section said.

But Bancroft disagrees and suggests the government’s interests whitethorn play a role.

“If a type is declared endangered, the governments are expected to group speech halfway habitats,” he said.

“So basically, cougars are a existent conundrum if you’re progressive pinch (the) petroleum industry, the wood manufacture aliases mining industry.”

He says he’d for illustration to spot measures to protect these habitats truthful that each type could thrive.

Potential cougar sightings could beryllium reported to a section DNR agency aliases online arsenic portion of the Significant Species and Habitats Database.