By James Peters

CO Service downplays cheetah risk

Dec 22, 2015 | 5:51 AM

CRESTON, B.C. — The Conservation Officer Service is downplaying the risks posed by a cheetah at large in the Kootenays.

Last Thursday, RCMP alerted the public to the presence of the big cat after a motorist along Highway 3 photographed the animal near Crawford Bay.

Efforts to track down the cheetah have been unsuccessful, and Inspector Joe Caravetta says the search has been called off.

But Caravetta says the animal is not equipped to survive long in cold temperatures, and it may have died of exposure in the interim.