Cougar pays visit to Tooele City; found and safely relocated

Several hours after a warning to the public to stay inside Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017, a mountain lion wandering through a Tooele neighborhood was located, tranquilized, and was to be relocated to its natural habitat. Photo: Facebook/Tooele Police Department

TOOELE, Utah, Aug. 10, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A mountain lion spotted in the north part of Tooele sent law enforcement and Division of Wildlife Resources workers on a thorough search Thursday afternoon.

Several hours after a warning to the public to stay inside, the animal was located, tranquilized, and was to be relocated to its natural habitat, a late-afternoon news release said.

In that release, Tooele Police said neighbors helped out by reporting sightings of the cat wandering through backyards in the Sunset Estates neighborhood, just north of the Overlake area.

Police expressed thanks to area law enforcement agencies, local emergency management and, “most of all, our citizens for the help and support today. Neighbors helping inform neighbors, taking care of each other’s pets, citizens offering officers use of their drone equipment to better observe places where the animal may have hidden, even citizens offering the use of tracking hounds in an attempt to locate the animal.”

Earlier in the day, officials said the cougar was seen near Parker’s Park in the area of 2100 North and 50 West. City officials sent an emergency alert to residents in the area, asking them to stay inside and keep their pets safe.

The mountain lion was finally spotted hiding among some bushes in a backyard, where officials were able to hit it with a tranquilizer gun. They then safely lifted the big cat into a truck to be returned to the wild.

Officials said mountain lions are not uncommon in the area, and most years, at least one report comes in. The alert expired at 4:19 p.m.

 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here