LPS Station -- LNN

By Connor Gunn

Officers attend to cougar incident in north Lethbridge

Sep 11, 2021 | 8:13 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – ***WARNING – Graphic photos are included in this article.

Lethbridge Police officers attended to an interesting call Saturday afternoon of a cougar in North Lethbridge.

About 2:40 pm on September 11, 2021, a large cougar was observed on the loose in the Uplands subdivision.

Andrew Watson placed the call to LPS after seeing a cougar in an alley, then in a nearby yard.

Another witness had observed the animal, approximately six feet in length, jump a six-foot-high fence from the adjacent alley into a residential yard in the 100-block of Bluefox Boulevard. The Public Safety Communication Centre had placed calls to Alberta Fish and Wildlife with no immediate response.

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Watson says the experience from the incident was “overwhelming,” and is in a state of disbelief.

Image from Kelcey Watson

“As police approached the area they noted a number of neighbourhood residents in the vicinity and entered the yard to ensure public safety. Officers had 9-1-1 dispatch call the home and neighbours to advise them to stay inside and away from the windows,” LPS says.

Once the animal was inside a local yard, officers closed in on it and killed it on scene as “it presented an immediate risk of life or injury to the public and officers if it was allowed to escape from the yard,” police say.

A Fish and Wildlife officer arrived at the scene after the cougar had been euthanized and seized the animal for further examination.