Bolivia predator remains a mystery

Efforts have come to naught so far in identifying an unknown animal predator suspected of killing dogs in Midway Road neighborhoods in Bolivia, Brunswick County Animal Services Director Richard Cooper says.

“We haven’t had any other reports this week or over last weekend,” he said. “There have been no further tracks found or attacks reported, although we’re still getting calls about what it might be.”

If any sightings or further attacks are confirmed, Cooper said he has authorization to request that officers with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission take on the case to track the animal. Cooper said he would enlist a professional zoologist to get involved to provide a positive identification of the animal.

Oct. 15 was the last time fresh tracks of the animal were reported in an area off Brown Road, Cooper said. A home on Brown Road, which connects with Midway, was the site where two dogs were killed about a month ago, he said. A third dog was confirmed killed Oct. 8 or 9 at a Rutland Road home.

The animal’s tracks, which show claw marks on each footpad, are roughly 3 inches across.

In each case of animal death, the owners reported hearing no sounds of fighting or extended barking before the carcasses were discovered.

“It is a very scary thing, but we just don’t know what it is,” Cooper said. “We hope that whatever it is, it has moved on.”

He thinks a larger-than-normal bobcat is behind the attacks.

Cooper said his office has received many calls from inside and outside the county suggesting the unknown predator is a large cat, such as a bobcat or cougar, a wolf, even a lion or tiger, possibly one that escaped from the Faircloth Zoo. But the Bolivia zoo closed more than a year ago. And Cooper said his department has confirmed that the zoo’s big cats were donated or sold to other facilities.

Though Animal Services has received many calls since the Midway Road dog deaths were reported, no one has offered visual proof of big cats in the area, he said.

Brandon Dean, an officer with the state Wildlife Resources Commission for the southeast, declined to speculate about what type of animal might be menacing the area. Dean judged it only a “slim possibility” that a non-native cougar had migrated to Brunswick County.

But if it has, the animal is an endangered and protected species and anyone who hunts or harms it, except in self-defense, may face a fine, he said.

Animal Services staffers remain on call to respond to any wild animal sightings or reports of further attacks, Cooper said. Animal Services can be contacted at 754-8204.

Paul Jefferson 538-2955

paul.jefferson@starnewsonline.com