Cougar hunt believed to be legal
EDMONTON • An investigation into the hunt of a large cougar by a television show host in Alberta has determined it was legal, says the province.
Steve Ecklund, host of the outdoor show The Edge, bragged about hunting the big cat in early December. He triggered outrage online when he posted several photos of him holding the dead cougar and another of him making a stir-fry from the meat.
The post led to criticism from dozens of people, including Laureen Harper, wife of former prime minister Stephen Harper.
“Must be compensating for something, small penis probably,” Harper said Thursday in a post on Twitter.
Environment officials said Thursday that they investigated after receiving complaints from the public about Ecklund’s hunt of the male cat in an area between Rocky Mountain House and Drayton Valley in east-central Alberta.
“Did the hunter have a proper licence? Was the quota still open in that specific management area? Was everything done legally?” said carnivore specialist Paul Frame. “As far as we know, that was a legal hunt.”
Ecklund and his television network defended his right to hunt the cougar.
“We fully support the ethical and legal kill that Steve Ecklund has presented us,” Ryan Kohler, president of Wild TV, said in a video statement. “Unfortunately he is getting some huge backlash, but that won’t change the fact that we love our hunting heritage here in Canada.”
Alberta Environment said the province has a cougar hunting season for management purposes.
“There’s a long-standing tradition of hunting cougars in Alberta,” said Frame. “It’s been regulated since ’69, with the quota in place since 1990. The province says there are between 2,000 and 3,500 cougars in Alberta.