Photographer reveals disturbing trail camera find after top predator vanishes: 'Without a doubt, there's been something unethical'

After residing peacefully in Canmore, Alberta, for several years, a female cougar with two young kittens was recently killed in an act that left residents shocked and dismayed.

What's happening?

Canada's Global News reported on the incident, which was discovered by wildlife photographer John Marriott. Marriott had been tracking the cougar for four years, though he had never actually encountered her in real life, only seeing her on trail cameras.

"She's like this ghost neighbour and she's a perfect example of a cat that is wonderful at coexisting and respecting humans, and living right beside us without us really knowing it," he told Global News.

But after discovering fresh tracks during a stakeout, he was shocked to see a group of cougar hunters emerging from the bush just minutes later.

"That was the moment of shock where I suddenly thought, 'Is this the Canmore cougar — and they have killed her and orphaned some kittens?'" he said, dismayed. 

The hunters had separated the cougar from her kittens using dogs, chased her up a tree, and shot her. And what's most upsetting, Marriott said, is that they had to know she had kittens because there were "cougar kitten tracks everywhere."

The kittens were not old enough to survive without their mother, leading several members of the community to wonder if the hunters had violated cougar hunting laws in the region that stipulate that mothers of young cubs cannot be killed. But whether or not their actions are deemed illegal, Marriott said, "without a doubt, there's been something unethical."

Why are hunting regulations important?

Historically, hunting and fishing have been effective conservation tools, keeping invasive populations in check and preserving healthy predator/prey ratios. But whenever hunting and fishing activities go beyond their legal limits, ecosystems can suffer tremendously.

Not only does illegal hunting and poaching tip an ecosystem off balance, but killing parents of young animals can jeopardize peaceful human-animal coexistence. "It's so important to keep these mature older females on the landscape because they teach their kittens how to interact with people and how to avoid them," Marriott said.

What's being done to help the cubs?

Fortunately, Fish and Wildlife was able to safely capture the cubs, and they're currently being cared for at the Calgary Zoo. And while they'll be able to live out their lives under human care, they'll never be able to live in the wild again. 

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To prevent situations like this from repeating themselves, many people — including Marriott — are urging Canmore's government to adjust its cougar hunting regulations and legal limits.

The outcome for the hunters is still uncertain.

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