SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 30, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The Division of Wildlife Resources, with the help of local police, spent several hours from Friday afternoon until early Saturday tracking down a cougar that first had been sighted in Glendale.
In the dark hours before sunrise Saturday, the animal was spotted and cornered in a backyard near 1000 S. West Temple in downtown Salt Lake, and DWR officers did what they said was necessary to protect the public.
DWR Sgt. Ray Loken said officers first had to confirm that the animal was a cougar, and once they had it contained into a backyard, “we used lethal means to euthanize the animal humanely.”
“Normally, we wouldn’t want to have to do that, but it’s late at night, we’re in a very populated area, and there are people walking around, so the public’s safety was of the utmost concern,” Loken said. “… If it was daylight hours, we would do everything we could to get the animal tranquilized and removed for the animal’s safety, but after dark we do not tranquilize.”
It was police officers who actually found the 90-pound cougar and they were very good at keeping it contained, Loken said.
“When the officers spotted it, they saw a house cat walk up to a fence, and the mountain lion jumped out and attempted to take the cat.” Loken added that there was an earlier report of some chickens being taken.
The initial reports of the cougar on the loose came from Glendale, so it might seem surprising to have it end up in downtown Salt Lake. However, Loken said cougars generally move at night, so it isn’t too unusual for one to get pretty far into town before anyone sees it — “but once they do, then the chase is on.”
He said the animal’s body would be taken to DWR’s Springville office, where biologists would examine it and try to determine if there were any reasons, outside of the ordinary, for the cougar to come into such a highly populated area.
“It’s a young lion. It’s a juvenile, likely trying to find a territory of its own,” Loken said. “It got turned around as it hit subdivisions or whatever, and has just been lost, wandering through the city, trying to make its way out.”
His advice for anyone who sees a cougar in an unexpected area is to steer clear of the animal and call the Division of Wildlife.
“They can make a 911 call if they decide to go that route,” he said. “We try to get emergency people there as quickly as possible, get the animal contained, and protect the public.”
