Parks Canada captured and collared a cougar east of town Dec. 16, with the assistance of two cougar hounds that chased the animal and forced it into a tree.
It's not currently clear whether the cougar was one of the two juvenile males that have been frequenting the townsite the past few weeks, so after capturing the animal, Parks released it with a collar.
“Just in case this one isn't the offender and it's just doing its natural thing in a really good environment, we collared it and released it on the spot and we're just going to monitor it,” explained Steve Malcolm, human wildlife conflict specialist for Jasper National Park.
“If it shows up in town, we'll probably end up having to put it up a tree again, doing the same thing and moving that cat out of town.”
The specialized dog team left Jasper Dec. 18, after doing a sweep of the town. Malcolm explained that there's little else that can be done right now because, without snow it's hard to find tracks and difficult for the dogs to catch a scent.
“We need snow and we need sightings and for the last two days we've had absolutely nothing,” said Malcolm on Dec. 17.
He speculates that what's happened is the juvenile cats have dispersed, each going their separate ways. If that's the case, there may not be anymore issues in town, he said. Although there's another possibility, as well. Each of the cougars may have recently had a kill, which would mean their hunger is satiated for the moment and they're not actively hunting. In that case, Malcolm said the cougars will be satisfied for about a week and then they could reappear—“probably right at Christmas.”
“Then we'll just start the process all over again.”
To capture the cougar, Dec. 16, Parks went out with two dogs and tracked the animal's scent. After a sighting, they discovered the cougar was on a kill site.
It took the dogs about 15 minutes to tree the cat, sending it 10 metres up into the branches.
“This tree was actually pretty well perfect,” said Malcolm. “He was really close, so we managed to have a beautiful little hole to shoot him in. I hit him with the [tranquilizer] dart.”
When the dart hit, the cougar jumped from the tree and bolted 350 metres into the distance before falling asleep.
“It took off at a full run,” recalls Malcolm, noting that without the dogs there would have been no way to keep tabs on the animal. “He covered between 300 and 350 metres at a blast.”
After they caught up, Parks staff assessed the animal, looking for any ailments or injuries and then collared it.
Had the animal been unhealthy, Parks would have handled it much differently, as it would have posed a public safety risk.
“We may have euthanized that cat right there upon the inspection, if it had a broken tooth or if it had some physical injury that we felt wasn't going to be good for human safety,” he said.
The community is encouraged to be conscientious when going out during dusk and dawn, as that is when cougars are most active and it's not yet clear if the two juvenile males have moved on from the townsite.
“Until we can confirm what's going on, we're basically at the same point: just be cautious and have a great Christmas,” said Malcolm.
If you do see a cougar, Parks encourages you to report your sighting to Jasper Dispatch at 780-852-6155.
