The cougar that stalked New Westminster streets on Halloween until it was eventually shot and killed by police, most likely made its way into the city from a neighbour to the east.
Conservation officers are still not exactly sure how a large adult cougar ended up in New West, but the best guess is the animal came in from Coquitlam.
James Kelly, a conservation officer, explained the service started to receive calls about a cougar in Coquitlam a few weeks back, but then they stopped a week ago.
He surmised the cougar came down the green belt into Coquitlam, through the industrial part of the city at night into an area near the Justice Institute and to Jamieson Court where it was first spotted.
Kelly also suggested the feline, which he described as a healthy adult, was likely feeding off of animals like racoons.
Unfortunately for the big cat, it met its end Saturday night.
Calls to the New Westminster Police Department about a cougar in the Glenbrook neighbourhood began in the early evening.
A number of police officers and a conservation officer were called out to the area in an effort to find the cougar.
However, it eluded police until 10 p.m. when it was finally located between a house and alley on Alberta Street.
Officers shot and killed the large animal that was described as being about five to six-feet long.
New West police spokesperson Sgt. Jeff Scott explained that officers made the decision to kill the cougar after consulting with the conservation service, adding tranquillizing the animal wasn`t an option.
“Those are considered to be relative dangerous animals… we want to ensure the safety of the public is paramount to us,” he told the Record, adding police relied on the expertise of the conservation officer in the decision.
“It’s an unfortunate thing when we have to destroy the animal, but we’re certainly happy no one was injured.”
Kelly explained why the decision was made to destroy the cougar, suggesting there is a misconception in the public about tranquilizing animals.
He said there are a lot of factors that go into a decision to tranquilize an animal, but noted officers never do so to an animal on the ground.
“It’s not an exact science, you’re dealing with a lot of things that can go wrong,” Kelly said.
He said the dart may or may not inject - and even if the dosage is right - it could take 15 minutes to take effect, which means a drugged up animal could be running around the streets.
The conservation officer said the service avoids tranquilizing an animal unless it’s up a tree and can be controlled.
Though the idea of a cougars now stalking the streets of New West is frightful thought for some, Kelly said he believes this incident is a one-off.
“I’ve never had one show up this far into residential space,” he said.
Whether the cougar was by itself, police aren’t sure, but Scott suggested there had only been the sighting of the one animal.
The sighting and shooting prompted a large reaction on social media. The following is a sample.
@MattxNWest tweeted: “In all seriousness, it's a shame we have to shoot such an amazing creature. #NewWest.”
While @eastvancity tweeted: “Yeah I'm gonna say it was the right choice to take it down Thanks for a quick response tonight @NWPDpatrol #newwest.”
Though there were reports of a cougar in the city a day earlier, New West police said those sighting were unconfirmed.
As for the rest of Halloween night, Scott noted there were no significant incidents other than the typical fireworks calls.
