The British Columbia Conservation Service is investigating after poachers killed two cougar kittens on Vancouver Island.
The service said the cubs, just a few months old, had been shot and killed near Hill 60 Forest Service Road in the Cowichan Valley in the past week.
At least one of the kittens was beheaded and both had their paws removed.
Conservation officers found the kittens during a regular patrol on Tuesday.
Officials shocked by rare killings
“It’s shocking for us front-line officers to find something like that,” said Robin Sano, a conservation officer based in Duncan, British Columbia.
“We’re just really trying to figure out who did this. It’s pretty frustrating.”
It is illegal in the whole province to kill cougar kittens – those with spots or under one year – as well as cougars in a family unit. Sano said poachers in the case could be charged with several charges under British Columbia Wildlife Act.
Sano said it was rare to see killed children and doubted it was an accident.
“It was no mistake that these cats are kittens. They were three months old and very small in size, so it would be impossible for anyone to take them for [adult] cats that can be legally taken, “he said.
Sano said the service had not yet determined why the kittens had been killed. It is possible that someone wanted the head or paws for the trophy, he said.
Adult cougar hunting is allowed in British Columbia during a certain regulated season.
Anyone with information on Vancouver Island babies is asked to call the All Poachers and Polluters Reporting (RAPP) hotline.
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