Bloodied deer carcasses found along Meewasin Trail

Provincial conservation officers are investigating what may have led to two deer being killed and mauled along the Meewasin Trail south of Diefenbaker Park.

The deer were found Tuesday morning by trail users, after predators had apparently discovered the prey.

A Facebook page called the Saskatoon Trail Alliance suggested the deer may have fallen victim to a cougar, a rare sighting within Saskatoon city limits. The post has been shared over one thousand times.

However, conservation inspector Steve Dobko told 650 CKOM there’s no answer yet on how the deer died.

“We couldn’t find any tracks of an animal kill, or evidence there was a cougar,” he said, noting he didn’t want to cause a panic among trail users.

He said if it turned out to be the work of a predator, the deer also could have been tracked down by coyotes or a bear.

Dobko added a car collision was a possibility, though that wouldn’t explain why there were two deer.

“The fact that there’s two there is a little puzzling,” he said. “If it was a single deer, it quite easily could have been a road collision.”

Humans could also be responsible, Dobko said, pointing to the fact the deer were found within the city.

Conservation officers collected the deer carcasses later on Tuesday, and the bodies have been sent to a lab to be tested for a cause of death.