WATCH: A series of cougar encounters around Metro Vancouver have sparked a warning from wildlife officials. Leigh Kjekstad reports.
WARNING: A photo lower down in the story may be disturbing to some people.
VANCOUVER – A cougar was shot and killed in West Vancouver Thursday morning after displaying what a conservation officer says was “very odd behaviour.”
Officer Simon Gravel says around 9:30 a.m. some dog walkers came upon the cougar on a busy trail near the Capilano RV Park. It was close to Park Royal Mall and the banks of the Capilano River.
The dogs barked at the big cat and scared it up a tree. Gravel was called in from Squamish while the West Vancouver Police put up a perimeter around the area:
When Gravel arrived he says the cat was displaying no fear of the humans. When he got out his gun and was within a few feet of the cat, it didn’t flinch.
Due to this behaviour, Gravel says he was forced to kill the cat.
The cougar was a healthy female, around five years old and weighing about 70 pounds. Gravel says it was quite large for a cougar in the area.
It is not known if this cougar was the same one officers warned about over the weekend. Gravel says it could have followed the river to the location near the Capilano RV Park.
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