Minnesota schools forced into lockdown as mountain lion roams through suburban neighborhoods

Two Minnesota schools were briefly placed on lockdown after a mountain lion was spotted moving through nearby neighborhoods, prompting precautions that kept students indoors.

A school resource officer at Ordean East Middle School reported the mountain lion was within a half-mile of its Duluth campus on Wednesday. Administrators immediately enacted a “secure status,” keeping students inside while classes continued. Congdon Park Elementary School, located nearby, implemented the same measure.

Duluth Public Schools spokesperson Adelle Wellens said Ordean East Middle School and Congdon Park Elementary enacted secure status at 1:36 p.m. after police alerted the district to the sighting. Congdon lifted the status at 2 p.m., with Ordean following shortly afterward.

“We’re confident that it has moved on,” Wellens said.

District officials consulted with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) about the mountain lion, which was wearing a tracking collar, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported. However, the device does not belong to the DNR, leaving the agency unable to monitor its movements. It is unclear who originally placed the collar on the animal.

John Erb, a furbearer and wolf research biologist with the DNR, told the Duluth News Tribune that the agency began receiving reports in early September when the animal was first seen near Fergus Falls.

“Then we got a flurry of pictures that kind of help us loosely track it,” Erb said.

Erb said the mountain lion is identifiable by ear tags and a radio collar that no longer functions. The DNR is “99 percent certain it came from Nebraska as part of a study,” he said. A Nebraska biologist involved in that project reviewed photos and believed the animal to be a 2-year-old male previously collared for research.

The Duluth Police Department urged residents not to approach the animal.

“The Duluth Police Department has been made aware of sightings of a mountain lion/cougar in Duluth,” the department said in a news release. “We have been in communication with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and they are also aware of the animal. At this time, there is no further action that law enforcement will be taking.”

This week’s encounter marks the second time this year Duluth schools have enacted emergency animal-related protocols, the Duluth News Tribune reported. Earlier this spring, Lowell Elementary School went on secure status after a bear wandered onto school grounds. Despite the recent incidents, Wellens said such precautions remain uncommon.

“As with any wild animal,” Duluth police added, “we want to remind the community that you should exercise caution in their presence and never approach them.”