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A family that appears to have done everything right when confronted with a cougar on a beach inside Vancouver Island's Pacific Rim National Park still couldn't keep the animal from attacking their 18-month-old son.

The toddler is in serious condition in Vancouver's Children's Hospital and is being monitored closely, according to a statement released on behalf of the family by the Provincial Health Services Authority.

Renee Wissink, manager of resource conservation at the park, said the boy was injured on Monday around suppertime on the beach of a popular day-use area at Kennedy Lake, some 16 kilometres east of the community of Ucluelet.

"When the attack occurred, [family members]stood their ground, they made a lot of noise, they frightened the cat off right away so the contact was very, very brief," he said.

Mr. Wissink said the child's father asked for help at the local visitor's information centre and an ambulance was called. The boy was eventually transferred to Vancouver.

Park officials are attempting to find the animal, Mr. Wissink said.

"We do, at the moment, have several teams out, including a dog team, which is attempting to locate this cougar which, when found, will be destroyed as a result of the public safety threat that it poses."

Bob Hansen, a specialist at the park in wildlife-human conflict, said two teams of park staff and conservation officers and two teams of hounds are looking for the cougar.

Mr. Hansen said the search has been going on since shortly after the attack and will continue until the animal has been tracked down.

The Kennedy Lake day-use area is closed to the public for now.

In a statement released by the Provincial Health Services Authority, the family thanked everyone who has helped, as well as their friends on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

"The family is focusing all of their energy on their son's recovery and are asking the media to please respect their privacy today and in the days ahead so they can concentrate on their son's health," noted the statement.

The family said it would not be granting interviews.

Community members wished the family well on several Facebook threads.



"I do amazingly well with a Ruger 22," wrote Erika Scott, referring to a firearm.

"Any cat that attacks a kid should be a dead cat," added Dave LeBlanc. "The excuse that humans encroach on cougar habitat is wrong. People have been safely going to Kennedy Lake for decades."

A wolf and cougar advisory has been in effect in the region since Aug. 13 because of increased activity by predators.

Mr. Wissink said a cougar approached a jogger on a local road on Aug. 1, and about one week later, a cougar was destroyed in Ucluelet.

Ucluelet mayor Eric Russcher said he heard sirens on Monday night, but by Tuesday morning was still trying to confirm whether the family lives in Ucluelet.

Mr. Russcher said cougar attacks are rare.

In August, 2006, a cougar attacked a four-and-a-half-year-old boy who was camping with his family at Schoen Lake Provincial Park, about an hour north of Campbell River.

Paul Daniel Krismer survived the attack, suffering bite wounds to his head and scratches to his upper body.

Just months earlier, six-year-old Bryce Forbes received a bravery award for saving his little brother from a cougar in Gold River, a community about 355 kilometres north of Victoria.

In 1994, a cougar attacked Kyle Musselman, 7, as he walked to school. He lost an eye because of the attack.



The Canadian Press

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