The Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district is warning parents about a potential cougar sighting on the Uplands Elementary school property.
BC Conservation Officer Stu Bates said two women were walking near the school at 9:35 Tuesday night when they thought they saw a cougar.
The women left the area immediately and reported the potential sighting.
“Cougars have been sighted in that area before,” said Bates. “If they’re in the area they’re attracted by the neighbourhood’s raccoons and deer.”
He said if cougars are there they will eventually leave and people should refrain from entering the wooded area.
The school district sent out recorded messages to area parents warning that students, who walk through the wooded area, should take an alternate route to school.
Bates said the number of reported cougar sightings in the region are similar to last year.
Kendall Hanson
