Police kill cougar roaming residential area of Saskatoon
(follow link and read comments)
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 7, 2008 | 4:21 PM CT
Comments 23 Recommend 18 CBC News
A wild cougar, a rare animal on the Prairies, surfaced in a Saskatoon neighbourhood Tuesday morning, and was shot and killed by police.
Witnesses told CBC News the animal was seen in the 300 block of Avenue J South, about five blocks from the South Saskatchewan River.
Saskatoon police reported they shot the cougar.
"At the direction of SERM [the Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management Ministry] the cougar was put down," police said in a news release. "It was thought that tranquillizing the cougar would present too great a risk to the public."
The animal was relaxing on the property of Saskatoon resident John Rutherford, who told CBC News he was as surprised as anyone when he came across the 45-kilogram, two-metre long cat.
"I was just going out to my truck to put laundry and stuff in it," Rutherford said. "I was walking back into the yard and saw the cat laying there. Just kinda looking at me. Calm. No problem."
A short time later, police and conservation officers arrived and promptly shot the animal.
Rutherford was not happy about that.
"Come on, spend a little money and take care of our animals," he said. "They're protected. We shouldn't be killing them in people's back yards."
Gary Provencher, a conservation officer with SERM, told CBC News that it can take several minutes for a tranquillizer to take effect and officials did not want to risk anyone getting hurt.
"Public safety, sorry, is our first priority," Provencher said. "The cougar, whether he lives or dies, takes second [place]."
Rutherford wondered whether shooting rifles in a residential area was a good idea.
"They are shooting cats and acting very dangerously in residential areas," Rutherford said. "I don't care if it takes five minutes for a tranquillizer gun to take effect or not. That bullet goes through the cat and it's going somewhere."
Officials said the cougar was wearing a GPS (Global Positioning System) tracking device on a collar. They said it's last known position was recorded in April of this year, in the Black Hills region of South Dakota in the United States.
Provencher said that while it is not unusual to have a cougar sighting in the city, it is rare for a cougar to wander so far.
cbc.ca |
