BANFF, ALTA.—Parks Canada officials are advising people in the Banff area to be on alert after a man told them he fought off an attacking cougar with his skateboard.

Bill Hunt, the resource conservation manager for the Banff field unit, said the man was attacked Thursday and initially reported the incident anonymously.

But officials tracked him down later to get more information in order to find the cougar.

“He was reluctant to contact us right away because he’d be in trouble for striking an animal inside a national park. But, of course, in that situation you’re in defence mode and it’s totally appropriate,” Hunt explained Sunday.

Hunt said the man told them he was listening to music through earbuds while walking between the townsite and an industrial area when the cougar attacked.

“He was hit from behind, knocked to the ground and instantly reacted properly. With a cougar, the correct thing to do is fight back hard and convince that cougar that you’re not going to be available for prey,” Hunt said.

“He was carrying his skateboard, so he used that skateboard in defence of himself and was able to hit the cougar with it, which stunned the animal, and he was able to get away.”

Remarkably, Hunt said the man wasn’t injured. He said the man is fit and fairly tall, which he said probably worked in his favour.

Hunt said officials are tracking the cougar and hope to capture it.

“Right now we’re kind of in a heightened state of alert,” he said.

A Parks Canada wildlife bulletin says there has also been a report of a cougar chasing a deer in the Banff townsite.

Park officials are restricting access to an area north of the town, where the attack occurred. Violators risk a fine of up to $5,000.

A Canmore woman was killed by a cougar in 2001 while she was cross-country skiing near Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park.

Cougars are normally very wary and selective of their prey, Hunt said, living on deer, elk and other animals. But one might take exceptional risks by coming closer to humans if it had experienced a difficult winter.

Hunt said park officials aren’t sure if it’s one cougar or more, yet. Scat that’s been collected will be analyzed for DNA evidence, he said. Cameras are being set up on bridges and hounds are being used.

If it’s caught, Hunt said it may have to be destroyed.

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“No decisions have been made yet. But if we’re certain it’s the same animal that attacked this gentleman then it’s definitely a candidate for destruction, just because that’s such unusual behaviour for a cougar, it’s a difficult thing to risk that reoccurring,” he said.

Hunt said if they catch an animal and it isn’t the one that attacked the man, it may be released elsewhere, although he said it’s difficult to find a safe place to release a cougar.