A timber wolf sighting earlier this week prompted a rural Manitoba school to keep its students indoors during lunch and recess.

The wolf was spotted Tuesday, about two kilometres from Starbuck School, which has students in kindergarten to Grade 8.

The man who saw the animal called a business in town, which then called the school.

Principal Brad Wainikka said that even though it was third-hand information, the school decided to err on the side of caution and keep the kids inside during recess and lunch.

"We have little kids running around. We have lots of bush and we're close to the river, so if this animal is tracking something along the river, for instance, we just didn't, you know, quite frankly we didn't want to be the first school in Manitoba history to lose a child to a wolf," he said.

The school is near the LaSalle River, about 20 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

The RCMP were called to the area but didn't spot the animal after doing a search.

The students are now playing outside again because there has been no further wolf sightings.

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