07-08-2025
Orphaned cougar kittens from Alberta find new home at Quebec's Parc Safari
When hunters killed a cougar near Canmore, Alta., in February, her two kittens were left to fend for themselves in the wild. They wouldn't have survived.
Now, the 11-month-old siblings have a new home at Parc Safari in Hemmingford, after being flown in from Vancouver two weeks ago.
If cougar kittens become orphaned, they can't live in the wild on their own and must legally be taken in by an accredited zoo or euthanized, zoologist and Parc Safari president Serge Lussier explained. But no zoos in Alberta or British Columbia had the space to take care of them long-term. The brother and sister spent one month at the Calgary Zoo and another four with animal caretakers in Vancouver
'They need to learn to hunt, survival instincts. And that's mom that will do that job. And mom was unable to do that job because someone killed her,' he explained Thursday, when the kittens were displayed to the public at Parc Safari for the first time.
The cats were orphaned on Feb. 10, when a team of hunters and dogs killed their mother with a bow and arrow — a method legalized under Alberta's loosened hunting regulations in December 2024.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services officers trapped the kittens on Feb. 14, after receiving several reports of two young cougars spotted alone near Canmore, communications director Sheena Campbell wrote in an email.
'The hounds would have all been banging and barking at the base of the tree, and there were six hunters, so a big group of men. It must have just been a horrific end to her life,' said wildlife photographer and predator expert John E. Marriott, who helped track down and rescue the orphaned kittens along with Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services.
'The morning she was found by hunters, the mother cougar was spotted hunting a bighorn sheep to feed her kittens,' Marriott added.
While the Alberta Wildlife Act prohibits hunting a mother cougar if she is visibly accompanied by spotted kittens, Marriott says the law leaves too much room for interpretation — especially if the mother is killed while hunting alone, away from her cubs.
According to documents obtained by The Gazette, the Alberta Wild Sheep Foundation put a $7,000 bounty on female cougars, which was distributed by the Alberta Professional Outfitters Society as an incentive to preserve the local bighorn sheep population.
By contrast, a cougar hunting licence in Alberta costs $25.
'It really shines a light on some pretty horrible wildlife management and hunting practices that are going on,' Marriott said.
Marriott started a charity, the Exposed Wildlife Conservancy, to raise the alarm on what he considers unethical hunting regulations in Alberta. He says five female and two male cougars were killed for a bounty near his home in Bull Valley last year.
When the two kittens were found, Marriott says they were hissing, growling and 'incredibly distressed.'
'The small female was beside herself with frustration, anger, I think fear,' he added.
Lussier admitted that their enclosed pen at Parc Safari will never be enough compared to living the wild.
'I can't offer them the wild. Men took the wild away from them. I'm giving them the best life I can.'
In their new Quebec home, the two cats have logs to climb on, giving them space to play and be stimulated. Lussier also plans to install a pole with cables, which will allow their human handlers to slide down chicken on a hook to emulate hunting.
He plans to let the cougars 'have their own lives,' with minimal interference from humans, unless they need vet care.
In the wild, Marriott estimates that cougars live 15 to 20 years. Lussier explained that animals always live longer in captivity thanks to vet care for injuries, and can expect the two cats to live 20 to 25 years.
Parc Safari opened a naming competition for the cougar kittens starting Thursday, which will run on the zoo's website until Aug. 28. The siblings' names will be announced in September.
