RCMP say no one was threatened or faced danger during a rare case of a cougar wandering about in Airdrie.
The large wild cat became the focus of a hunt by authorities in a south central area of the city Thursday, with reports coming in during late afternoon and early evening.
“(Reports said) it was walking across the roads near the parkways,” Cst. Jessica Hawkins tells CityNews, citing a dispatch report of a sighting at Luxstone Boulevard and Luxstone Place Southwest.
She says RCMP set up a perimeter with the help of conservation and municipal enforcement members.
“And then from there just tried to make that perimeter smaller and smaller until they were in a safe area to then tranquilize and relocate the animal. “
Hawkins had no specifics as to how long the operation took but says it went fairly quickly, and no one faced danger.
“Everybody was very aware in that area and communicating through social media,” she says, adding,” .. we advise people if they are outside to remain inside until the incident is addressed. But no, luckily there was no instance of endangering anybody.”
Hawkins says there have been no previous incidents with this particular animal, and it has been relocated to an area west of Airdrie in which there are a number of locations cougars are naturally habituated.
But if it were to meander back into town would authorities employ the same process to deal with it again?
“Exactly. Yeah. Residents would call us, we’d set up a perimeter and try to capture him as soon as possible and then relocate and make that decision. Fish and Wildlife or Conservation Officers would make the decision on what’s the best next steps with that animal.”
And how unusual is a case like this in Airdrie?
“Very. We’ve had random animal sightings here in town as far as bobcats.. but it’s very rare.“
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