Originally published June 16, 2025 at The Narwhal. Read the full story here.

A controversial decision last year to substantially increase the number of cougars that can be hunted in Alberta was not based on science, according to government documents obtained by The Narwhal.

Instead, expanded cougar hunting was “based on direction from [the] minister last year and input from stakeholders,” according to an internal email between senior staff at the Ministry of Forestry and Parks. Those stakeholders were limited to members of the Alberta Professional Outfitters Society and the Alberta Tree Hounds Association.

Internal emails obtained by The Narwhal through four freedom of information requests show senior staff within the ministry said “social interests, economic effects and departmental mandates” took precedence over “inventory and monitoring” data for a last-minute increase in cougar hunting quotas. “Inventory and monitoring information was not the primary element used to inform the process to trigger [the cougar quota] adjustment,” a senior staffer wrote in an email to colleagues.

That directly contradicts heated denials by Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen, who lashed out at his Opposition critic in the legislature earlier this year when she suggested he was not taking science and data into account. 

“When it comes to wildlife in this province, I would rather manage wildlife with common sense,” he said in response to accusation of political interference from NDP MLA Sarah Elmeligi. “I’d rather use biology than the ideology that they use.”

The internal emails reveal a scramble to change the quotas with little clarity on the process. “The normal process would be for [the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas] to undertake an updated assessment of a wildlife species population,” then share that information with the Ministry of Forestry and Parks, one senior staff wrote. No new assessment of Alberta’s cougar population has been done since 2019. “I do not believe that we have agreed on a formal process, as of yet, to inform management changes,” the staffer wrote. 

“I look forward to the formalization of process,” another staffer wrote in response.

“Me too……….” was the one-line reply.

They were reacting to a change that appeared suddenly just five days before the end of the 2023-24 cougar hunting season. 

Staff were also directed to open new areas where hounds could be used to hunt cougars. 

“This is a 97.6 per cent increase in area where cougars can be hunted with hounds,” a briefing note obtained by The Narwhal says. The report made it clear that the change was not because any data had shown an increase in the cougar population.

“Cougar density in these new areas is unknown but thought to be low.”

Then, in late 2024, new quotas were set for the 2024-25 season, based on the last-minute increases in March. Those changes represented an almost 40 per cent increase in the total number of cougars that could be hunted across the province as compared to the start of the previous season. At the same time, the province also quietly opened hunting in some protected areas, including Cypress Hills Provincial Park.

The changes also allowed outfitters to expand into new areas — specifically around Canmore, Alta. — with separate and specific licences for guided hunting trips. The move increased the number of cougars that could be killed in those areas, over and above the official quota. 

The government referred to that change as the “Alberta Professional Outfitters Society extension.”

“Several” outfitters with that association, along with the Alberta Tree Hounds Association, are the only stakeholders mentioned as being consulted about the changes.

But even within that limited group, there was pushback on the government’s plans. 

READ THE FULL STORY AT THE NARWHAL.