A cougar feeding on an elk carcass has forced the closure of an area on Tunnel Mountain in Banff.
A member of the public reported Monday (Jan. 25) they had seen a cougar in the area a couple of times. When Parks Canada’s wildlife management staff went to investigate, they also saw the big cat and found an elk carcass it was eating.
Officials say the closure covers an area known as The Spine mountain bike trail between the Tunnel Mountain campground water tower and Tunnel Mountain Village 1.
“We decided to close that area to prevent any visitors or trail users from accidentally disturbing the cougar while trying to feed,” said David Gummer, a wildlife ecologist for Banff National Park.
“It’s relatively close to one popular trail that’s seeing a lot of bike activity and other users at this time of year. We closed it for the public’s own safety and also for the animal to be able to feed on that food source undisturbed.”
Anyone caught in the closed area will be charged and face a maximum fine of up to $25,000.
The cougar is North America’s largest wildcat, and in Alberta lives in the mountains and foothills, preferring remote, wooded and rocky areas.
Cougars are efficient hunters that prey on deer, elk, moose, sheep and other mammals. They can be active any time of day, but most often hunt at dusk, night and dawn, stalking and rushing their prey from the ground.
The big cats are generally shy and wary of humans, avoiding human activity and developed areas whenever they can. For this reason, calculating population numbers and mapping cougar range can be difficult.
Parks wildlife management staff have put a remote camera at the Tunnel Mountain site to help monitor this cougar, which is described as “not a small cougar.”
Gummer said the closure will removed as soon as possible.
“We expect it will be a very short temporary closure,” he said. “We did put a camera there as part of our monitoring to evaluate if the cougar keeps feeding there and if any other species come and interact there.”
Gummer said Parks Canada continues to monitor cougar activity through snow tracking in the wildlife corridors around Banff.
“We’ve continued to pick up cougar activity in a number of different corridors, both north and south of the highway,” he said.
The closure on Tunnel Mountain follows heightened cougar activity in Banff in December and early January.
There were several cougar sightings near the Middle Springs neighbourhood, including one family of cougars that was picked up on a wildlife camera.
A young cougar on the brink of starving to death hunkered down under the porch of a home in Middle Springs.
Resource conservation officers made the decision to euthanize that six-month-old cougar on the advice of a wildlife veterinarian who said it was unlikely the animal would survive for much longer.
Tips from Parks Canada:
• Travel in groups and keep everyone together. Keep an eye on children.
• Be especially cautious when travelling at dawn and dusk, when wildlife is most active.
• Make noise to alert a cougar or other potentially dangerous wildlife of your presence.
• Carry bear spray in an easily accessible location and know how to use it.
• Keep your dog on leash at all times.
• Leave the area if you see or smell a dead animal.
• Never approach, entice or feed wildlife.
Please report all carnivore sightings immediately to Banff dispatch at 403-762-1470.
