Calgary takes on the masked bandits - Raccoons on the rise

Calgary may not be ready to surrender its green bins just yet, but the city’s elusive raccoon population appears to be growing.

The masked mammals have lived around Calgary for decades, mostly avoiding residential neighbourhoods and remaining hidden in river valleys and wooded parks. More recent observations, however, suggest raccoons are breeding locally and expanding into additional parts of the city.

Wildlife photographer Cora Gopez encountered one in Carburn Park in September 2025. Despite regularly visiting the southeast Calgary park, it was the first raccoon she had seen in the city.

Her sighting was part of a modest but growing collection of public reports. As of October 2025, the citizen-science platform iNaturalist contained 37 Calgary raccoon observations. More than half had been submitted between 2023 and 2025, according to reporting originally published by CBC News.

Most observations came from natural areas such as Fish Creek Provincial Park and Weaselhead Flats. Raccoons have also been documented in Griffith Woods and Carburn Park, while only six of the 37 reports originated in more heavily developed urban areas.

The numbers do not amount to a population census. An increase in observations can partly reflect greater public awareness and increased use of wildlife-reporting applications. Individual raccoons can also be photographed more than once.

Remote cameras nevertheless provide additional evidence that the animals are established across Calgary’s park system.

The Miistakis Institute’s Calgary Connect program used cameras at 128 locations between 2017 and 2022, recording 983 raccoon detections—less than half of one per cent of all species detections during the project.

The monitoring program cannot determine the city’s exact raccoon population, but it helps researchers understand where different species are present and how they move through urban landscapes.

Wildlife biologist Sara Jordan-McLachlan, who worked on the research, believes Calgary’s raccoon population is increasing. Researchers have observed evidence that the animals are breeding in local natural areas, indicating that they are no longer simply occasional visitors.

Raccoons may have reached Calgary through several routes. Some could have gradually expanded their range from British Columbia, Saskatchewan or Montana, while others may have inadvertently travelled aboard transport vehicles. They have likely been breeding around the city for at least two decades.

Still a long way from Toronto

Calgary is nowhere close to becoming Toronto, where raccoons are a familiar presence in alleys, attics, backyards and garbage bins.

Calgary’s colder winters may slow population growth, while local raccoons also share the landscape with coyotes and bobcats. Those competing predators are less prevalent in the most densely developed parts of Toronto, allowing raccoons there to occupy a more dominant place in the urban ecosystem.

As recently as 2018, Calgary wildlife cameras had confirmed raccoons in parks across the city, but officials described their numbers as relatively low. At the time, local wildlife-control operators reported receiving only a handful of raccoon calls each year. The concern was that access to compost, garbage, pet food and other human-provided food could eventually draw the animals out of natural areas and into neighbourhoods.

That transition has not occurred on a Toronto-sized scale. Still, Calgary’s river corridors, mature trees, wetlands and extensive park system offer raccoons food, water and potential denning sites. As their population becomes more established, encounters in residential areas could become more common.

What residents should do

The City of Calgary advises residents not to approach or feed raccoons or other wildlife. Garbage, compost and pet food should be secured, fallen fruit should be removed, and the ground beneath bird feeders should be kept clean.

Residents can submit non-emergency wildlife observations through 311, helping the city track how animals are using parks and neighbourhoods. Immediate threats to public safety should be reported to 911.

The city’s current advice emphasizes coexistence rather than alarm. Raccoons remain uncommon enough that seeing one is still noteworthy—but perhaps no longer quite as surprising as it once was.

For now, Calgary’s raccoons are keeping a lower profile than Toronto’s notorious “trash pandas.” The evidence suggests, however, that more Calgarians may soon discover they have a masked neighbour living nearby.