A team of Army marksmen and the Garda helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft have been deployed on the outskirts of Monaghan town in an effort to track down and kill a puma. Conor Lally reports.
The Garda Air Support Unit used special heat-seeking equipment last night in an attempt to track an animal it believes to be a puma. The puma is thought to have killed several farm animals in the area over the last 10 days.
The Army marksmen from Monaghan barracks were ready to shoot the animal after it was sighted yesterday close to a residential area. A local man recorded footage of what appeared to be a puma in a field adjacent to the Tully housing estate sparking fears that it may attack people.
Insp Pat McMurrow from Monaghan Garda station said yesterday's sighting so close to residential areas had instilled "a certain amount of fear" in people in the locality.
"We're told that it can jump 15 to 20 foot vertically from a standing position and that it could jump up to 50 foot horizontally so it's something that we are taking seriously. It can travel around 100 miles in one day but like a lot of animals it is most likely to get used to one particular habitat and stay in that area."
Parents have been urged not to allow their children into any areas where the animal has been spotted in recent weeks. Insp McMurrow said given the potential threat to human life, the marksmen would shoot to kill.
"Our information is that it would certainly attack a child although it would probably run from an adult."
Gardaí said the video footage shot at around 11 a.m. confirmed the animal is a puma. The last sighting was at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Last week, the puma was believed to have been responsible for attacking cows on a farm at Newbliss, during which one calf was killed. A Department of Agriculture veterinary officer, Mr Desmond Patton, who is based in Monaghan, said the marks on a mauled calf indicated the predator was one with "huge sharp claws". The animal is also believed to have killed three sheep and a goat.
The puma is thought to be two-years-old and between 6 and 7 feet in length and 3 feet in height. It is believed to have entered the State from the North, where large exotic animals like pumas have been seized at houses in recent years were they have been reared in captivity.
The marksmen were in small teams around Monaghan town and in constant radio contact with the Garda helicopter and aircraft ready to take up positions if the animal was sighted.