The rumor had been circulating for a few days but the gendarmes are now formal, it’s a young cougar roaming in the south of Pas-de-Calais. Monday, October 18, 2021, they also confirmed that the animal “_was seen several times in the area of Ligny-sur-Canch_e”.
In addition, several hunting associations have even shot him several times, from a distance, but without shooting him. Indeed, they would have feared the repercussions of this act since a petition launched on Saturday collected more than 30,000 signatures in 48 hours.
Hunters hesitate to shoot him
This text, published on the Change.org site, asks “justice and respect for the puma auxilois“after the Pas-de-Calais prefecture issued an order giving the competent authorities the right to slaughter the animal.
By the time the hunters called a vet to find out what to do, including shooting a hypodermic dart to put him to sleep, the beast had fled.
“If we can capture him alive, we will, insisted the prefecture. But it remains a wild animal, we do not know where it comes from, or what its behavior is. This makes searching even more difficult.“
Obviously, the animal also manages to feed itself without difficulty. No one reported to the gendarmerie to find out about the origin of this young puma.