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Police shoot cougar

The animal had been spotted in Weyerhaeuser subdivision and came within three metres of a man
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Photo shows a cougar or mountain lion. A similar animal, but unhealthy and starving, was shot by police in Clearwater on Tuesday morning, Nov. 21. Black Press file photo

Clearwater RCMP shot and killed a cougar Tuesday morning in the Weyerhaeuser subdivision area.

According to Sgt. Grant Simpson, police determined the cougar was a “significant risk to the public and had to be put down.”

The animal had been spotted prowling around the subdivision and at one point came within three metres of a man.

The cougar killed a neighbhourhood cat as well.

“Officers eventually located the cougar several blocks from where it was originally sighted. It then entered a tarped-in porch of a residence under renovation and was shot by police,” Simpson reported.

The cougar appeared to be unhealthy and starving and so, because of its behaviour, tranqulizing the animal was not an option.

BC Conservation Officer Service will perform a necropsy on the cougar’s carcass.