Cougar sighting confirmed in N.W.T.

Wildlife officers in the Northwest Territories have confirmed a cougar was spotted in the North Slave region last week — the first confirmed cougar sighting in the territory.

Senior wildlife officer Raymond Bourget said a motorist reported seeing the cougar on May 9 about 40 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife on Highway 3.

Bourget said wildlife officers were able to find tracks that confirmed the cat was indeed a cougar.

"The tracks have four toes and do not show any claws, which is typical of cats as they retract their claws," Bourget said Thursday. "The size of the tracks and the stride between them is all consistent with that of a cougar."

Bourget said there have been four reports of cougar sightings over the past five years, but this marks the first time a sighting has been verified.

He warned people to take the same precautions in the bush that they would with bears and other wildlife, suggesting they keep children and pets close at all times, pack food properly and try to alert wildlife to their presence.

Cougars are not considered native to the Northwest Territories, but the reports of sightings in recent years have suggested climate changes may be bringing more of the mountain cats north.

A 2001 report found that there had been at least 20 individual sightings of cougars in the territorybetween 1983 and 2000, with most of them in the Wood Buffalo National Park area. The report said mild winters could be drawing a larger number of cougars to the southern Northwest Territories.

Cougars are not a protected species in the N.W.T., but hunting them is illegal.