Earlier this year, at a hunting meeting held in Bonnyville, area hunters in attendance spoke of an increase in cougar sightings in the eastern half of Alberta, away from the Rocky Mountains. One area hunter claimed to have caught a cougar along his trap line in the Lakeland.
After being prompted by area hunters, Barb Maile, the Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) senior wildlife biologist for the St. Paul, Bonnyville and Cold Lake area, said “cougars are increasingly starting to show up in the area over the last 10 to 15 years.”
According to Alberta Justice, 2014 has seen 337 cougar incidents reported to the Alberta Fish and Wildlife department. This number is significantly lower than the 612 reports filed in 2013 and 840 reports submitted in 2012, however the year is only half over.
Brendan Cox, a public affairs officer with Alberta Justice, said that most of the reports filed are “unconfirmed”.
“Some of the reports that are recorded in our system are instances where it is doubtful that a cougar was actually involved. Most of the reports are deemed probable,” said Cox, who went on to clarify that the reports filled could include a wide range of instances.
“They could include damage done to property that is suspected to have been done by a cougar, reports of an injured animal believed to be caused by a cougar, a farmer who thinks his cattle have been spooked by a cougar, or just your run of the mill cougar sightings,” said Cox.
According to the numbers collected by Alberta Justice, the department that oversees the Fish and Wildlife department, most of the cougar sightings are in the “mountainous regions” of Alberta. However they can be seen all over the province.
“They can be found all over the province, but their population will be more dense in the mountainous regions like the Hinton area and in some of the parks where there are more trees and more cover,” said Cox.
Kenton Yaceyko, a Fish and Wildlife officer in the Bonnyville/Cold Lake region, said there are cougars spotted in the Lakeland, but just not all that often.
“If you look at the number of sightings that we get annually it is probably less than six, if that. And we get the odd trail-camera photograph that is forwarded to us,” said Yaceyko.
“I haven't been to an occurrence report or a complaint regarding livestock depredation or a public safety complaint regarding cougars since I have been here. I've been here 10 years.”
Yaceyko doesn't necessarily believe there are more cougars in the region. He feels the sighting numbers are based on the increasing population and technology used by hunters.
“The increasing amount of sightings is likely due to the increasing amount of resource work. There are more people so the incidents of them being sighted is increasing. We have the technology and the means of getting around a bit more to see them too,” said Yaceyko.
The local Fish and Wildlife department, just like in the rest of the province, records its data on cougars all from “unconfirmed” sightings.
“When people phone and say that they have seen (a cougar) that is how we document it. We document what they tell us and where, but we also put in there that it is unconfirmed based on us not (being able) to verify it,” said Yaceyko.
“Depending on the description we will document it, as we have been known to have cougar reports when really it is just a big orange tabby cat.”
The province distributes “Living with Cougars” brochures to inform residents in Alberta about cougars and what they should do if they ever come into contact with one.
If you see a cougar, the brochure states to: never approach a cougar, make yourself as large as possible, talk to the cougar in a strong, firm voice, don't turn your back on the cougar and always leave room for it to escape.
“All we do as far as cougars here is just providing that educational component and saying it may very well have been a cougar that was screaming in your backyard or that crossed the road in front of you,” said Yaceyko. “We have the ‘Living with Cougars' brochure in our office and in our trucks in case we have to go out and speak to someone about one.”
For more information on cougars visit the cougar section under the Fish and Wildlife department on the Alberta ESRD website.
