Large cougar shot and killed by Port Moody police

Port Moody police have shot and killed a 200-pound cougar that had taken refuge in a tree in a residential yard in the 100 block of April Road.

Port Moody Const. Luke van Winkel says officers answered a call about the cougar Monday around 8 p.m. PT, the second reported sighting of a cougar that day on Port Moody's northwest border.

Winkel says police tried to call a conservation officer, but no one was available.

Police then made a decision to destroy the cougar, says Winkel, because it wouldn't leave the neighbourhood and it was near houses and recreational trails.

While cougar sightings in Port Moody are rare, Winkel says they are indigenous to the area as are bobcats, bears and coyotes.

MAP: April Road, Port Moody, B.C.