Vancouver Island wildlife officials armed with rifles and accompanied by dog teams are hunting for a cougar that mauled an 18-month-old child in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

The young boy is recovering in hospital from the attack, which occurred on Monday at about 6 p.m. in a popular beach area 16 kilometres from Ucluelet.

The 18-month-old child was taken by air ambulance to Vancouver and was initially listed in critical condition. The boy's condition was later upgraded to serious, CTV British Columbia's Jim Beatty reported Tuesday evening.

The exact nature of the boy's injuries has not been made public, but officials say the child's family did everything right as the cougar approached.

"When the attack occurred, they stood their ground, they made a lot of noise, they frightened the cat off right away so the contact was very, very brief," said Rene Wissink, the park's manager of resource conservation.

The family was leaving the beach area when the cougar suddenly appeared from the bush and lunged at the child.

Family members, including the child's grandfather and a male friend in his 20s, managed to scare off the big cat.

However, the cougar then attempted to attack a four-year-old child also walking with the group, but was scared off and did not inflict any injuries on the second child.

The family was enjoying a summer day at Kennedy Lake, which is a tourist-friendly area.

The infant's name hasn't been released, but the family released a statement through provincial officials and thanked crews for their help.

"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," the statement said.

Wissink said that teams are doing their best to track down the predatory animal as quickly as possible.

"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."

Wildlife officials in the area have been tracking an increase among predators in the park, and a wolf and cougar advisory has been in effect since Aug. 13.

On Aug. 1, a jogger in the area was tracked by a cougar, and a week later, officials said a cougar was involved in predatory activity.

The Kennedy Lake area has been closed temporarily as the search for the animal continues.

Arlene Armstrong, a spokesperson from Parks Canada, said that crews are "working very hard" to track the animal.

"We'll continue with it right through tonight," Armstrong told CTV News Channel Tuesday evening.

She said that dog teams have been picking up scents in the rugged area and officials are hopeful that the cougar will return to the scene of the first attack.

Armstrong also credited the child's family with doing the right thing during the incident.

"This could have been much worse," she said.

Provincial conservation officer Peter Pauwels said that getting aggressive is the only recourse in the event of an attack, because cougars only intend to kill.

"You must fight back, don't ever try to play dead," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press