Penn
05-01-2008, 15:50
Police hunt lion on the loose in woods north of Ottawa
Graham Hughes, Ottawa Citizen; Canwest News Service
Published: 2:01 am 5.1.2008
OTTAWA - A Quebec provincial police helicopter equipped with a heat-seeking device and officers from the province's natural resources ministry are searching the bush around Maniwaki -- about 130 kilometres north of Ottawa -- for an African lion.
SQ spokeswoman Melanie Larouche said the two-year-old, 150-to-200-pound male was last seen Tuesday night about 9:30 on Highway 105 about one kilometre south of the town.
The lion is about one-metre tall and 1.5-metres long. It apparently got loose on Tuesday. Its owner, a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, adjacent to Maniwaki, has told police the animal is not dangerous.
Kitigan Zibi police chief Gordon McGregor said six reserve police officers and 12 SQ officers were involved in the ground hunt, as well as game wardens. Schools in the area were under lockdown and residents of the reserve and in the town had been warned to stay on the alert. The police chief said squad cars would accompany school buses on their runs and would accompany children to their homes to ensure their safety.
The Chief of the First Nation, Stephen McGregor, said officials are handicapped in their search efforts, "because no one really knows what we're dealing with -- even the game wardens don't know what to do.
"We're treating this as a public security problem," he said. "The police will keep searching for the lion and hope to tranquilize him and capture him, but we don't even know if the tranquilizers we've got will work on it."
If they have to, the police will shoot the lion, but everyone would prefer to capture it," he said.
"The owner says he's tame, but right now, it's loose and it's a hunter, so we're worried that its instincts will kick in," he said. "When you look at the worst-case scenario, humans would be the easiest ones to hunt."
The owner, a lifelong hunter and trapper, is on standby in case the animal is spotted.
Anyone who wants to own such a wild animal must obtain an "exotic animal" permit from Quebec's natural resources ministry, said Jocelyn Martel, the ministry's interim chief of service. The owner doesn't seem to have a Quebec permit, Martel said, but, as a First Nation's member, he may have one from another province.
Graham Hughes, Ottawa Citizen; Canwest News Service
Published: 2:01 am 5.1.2008
OTTAWA - A Quebec provincial police helicopter equipped with a heat-seeking device and officers from the province's natural resources ministry are searching the bush around Maniwaki -- about 130 kilometres north of Ottawa -- for an African lion.
SQ spokeswoman Melanie Larouche said the two-year-old, 150-to-200-pound male was last seen Tuesday night about 9:30 on Highway 105 about one kilometre south of the town.
The lion is about one-metre tall and 1.5-metres long. It apparently got loose on Tuesday. Its owner, a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, adjacent to Maniwaki, has told police the animal is not dangerous.
Kitigan Zibi police chief Gordon McGregor said six reserve police officers and 12 SQ officers were involved in the ground hunt, as well as game wardens. Schools in the area were under lockdown and residents of the reserve and in the town had been warned to stay on the alert. The police chief said squad cars would accompany school buses on their runs and would accompany children to their homes to ensure their safety.
The Chief of the First Nation, Stephen McGregor, said officials are handicapped in their search efforts, "because no one really knows what we're dealing with -- even the game wardens don't know what to do.
"We're treating this as a public security problem," he said. "The police will keep searching for the lion and hope to tranquilize him and capture him, but we don't even know if the tranquilizers we've got will work on it."
If they have to, the police will shoot the lion, but everyone would prefer to capture it," he said.
"The owner says he's tame, but right now, it's loose and it's a hunter, so we're worried that its instincts will kick in," he said. "When you look at the worst-case scenario, humans would be the easiest ones to hunt."
The owner, a lifelong hunter and trapper, is on standby in case the animal is spotted.
Anyone who wants to own such a wild animal must obtain an "exotic animal" permit from Quebec's natural resources ministry, said Jocelyn Martel, the ministry's interim chief of service. The owner doesn't seem to have a Quebec permit, Martel said, but, as a First Nation's member, he may have one from another province.