No evidence to suggest Banff cougar attack on Calgary man ever happened: reports

Newswire Parks Canada investigation finds no evidence of Banff cougar
attack

Nearly a month after Parks Canada launched an investigation into a possible cougar attack in Banff, questions are circulating about whether or not the incident ever happened.

On Feb. 12, a Calgary man reported he was hiking in Rockbound Lake Trailhead when the animal pounced on him, hurting him in the process.

At the time, Covenant Health reported to CityNews that it took one person to hospital, treating them for minor injuries.

After this reported attack, Parks Canada began its investigation, closing Castle Mountain Lookout and Silverton Falls while looking for the cougar in question.

While officials were searching for a big cat, 23-year-old Spencer Weilermann spoke with numerous media outlets, recounting a harrowing story in which a younger cougar jumped on him, knocking him down a hill, as he struggled.

Now, reports indicate it was all a lie.

Parks Canada says in a statement to CityNews it followed standard protocol following a visitor reported incident back in February. It says the area was thoroughly searched and no signs of cougar activity were found.

The government agency says it also undertook forensic testing to corroborate initial findings.

CityNews spoke with a wildlife expert who was in the area the morning of the suspected attack.

John. E Marriott, the co-founder of Exposed Wildlife Conservancy and a full-time professional wildlife photographer, says he initially felt shock after hearing the news.

Then, he got curious.

“Right away I immediately started digging in — where did this happen? What were the details? I’d actually been out on the Bow Valley Parkway that morning and hadn’t seen a thing,” Marriott recalled. “I had left at about 10:30 a.m. and this had happened at 11 a.m. — a) a weird time of the day for a cougar to be wandering around hunting, and b) a very odd location for a cougar to be at this time of year — there’s not a lot of deer or elk around there, not a lot of prey.”

He eventually became suspicious.

“There were some details that immediately stood out to me, and later that evening when the first media reports starting coming out — hearing some of the details I thought, ‘This doesn’t make any sense,'” Marriott said.

Park officials say no cougar DNA was found on anything in the area, and there was no evidence of tracks anywhere near where the attack supposedly happened.

The case is now closed and the closure for the Rockbound Lake area including Castle Mountain Lookout and Silverton Falls has been lifted.

Marriott previously worked for Parks Canada and claims the agency knew no attack had taken place shortly after it was reported.

“[I] fairly quickly learned that it was not a cougar attack — from people that I know within Parks Canada — and that they were being gagged, they were not being allowed to speak out by upper management,” he said. “So, they literally knew that day that it was not a cougar attack.”

Parks Canada didn’t respond to questions about whether the agency knew there was no attack and investigated anyway.

Marriott thinks there was a lot of unnecessary fear created.

“This kind of news getting out there and then being false information is really unfortunate, it’s fueled this sort-of fear, this unnatural fear of some of our big predators out there,” he said. “I think it’s very natural and healthy to have some fear and respect for these animals. But, you can go hiking all over the place, Kananaskis, Banff, Jasper, wherever you want — take some bear spray, take a little horn if you want to — you’re just as likely to have something happen to you driving to the trailhead.

“You’re still more likely to die from a vending machine falling on you than you are from a cougar attack,” Marriott said. “So, that’s how ridiculous, that’s how rare a cougar attack is.”

CityNews has reached out to Weilermann for comment.