Photo courtesy of Moose Jaw Police.

Moose Jaw Police say a cougar was spotted in the city shortly after midnight Monday morning.

In a news release officers say the cougar was seen on a doorbell camera on the 900 block of James Street.

Police searched the area but were unable to locate the cougar at that time.

Moose Jaw Conservation Officers were notified and will be checking the surrounding areas.

Moose Jaw cougar spotted twice near downtown

The cougar now has two more confirmed sightings in the City of Moose Jaw.

Conservation Officer Bruce Reid says there was a confirmed sighting at 8:00 A.M. near the Co-op in Moose Jaw’s downtown, and then another sighting around 11:00 A.M. several blocks north. Reid says tranquilizing an animal like this is not as easy as it looks, adding safety is their first priority.

“It’s a long process to be ready, and then, if the dart is in unsuccessfully, it takes four-to-seven minutes before the animal actually goes down, and they could cover a lot of ground in that time if they happen to bolt,” Reid said. “Being a cat, they are very elusive, and very secretive.

“The chances of losing it would be very high.”

Reid says it’s an adult cat believed to be looking for it’s own territory.

“It could be a younger adult,” Reid said. “They spend about two years with their mothers, so it could be on its way out from that, or just got displaced by another, larger cat, but it’s on the move. *It hasn’t been that uncommon to have them sighted in the Moose jaw vicinity, but in the city itself, I don’t recall of a confirmed urban sighting in Saskatchewan since the one in Saskatoon.”

Back in October of 2008, a cougar was destroyed when it showed up in the yard of a Saskatoon homeowner.

The public is asked not to approach or attempt to chase off the cougar and to notify MJPS of any further sightings at 306-694-7600 immediately.

{With files from CJWW}