A cougar was shot and killed in Sooke on Sunday night after it tried to enter a resident’s home on Grant Road.
The large animal approached a house on 7100 block of Grant Road around 9 p.m. and attempted to walk inside, but was stopped when its face hit a large glass door, said Sooke RCMP Staff Sgt. Jeff McArthur.
While checking the homeowner’s back yard, one officer encountered the cougar approximately eight metres away when it lifted its head from the grassy area, McArthur said, adding that the officer made numerous attempts to get the cougar to flee the area, but to no avail.
During several minutes of interaction with the animal, the cougar began squaring off with the officer, presenting an “aggressive crouching stance.”
McArthur said the cougar was in a residential area of Sooke, met human confrontation with aggression, and had made an attempt to get into an occupied home, adding that the officer made the decision to shoot the animal and did so.
“I find the decision in this case to be completely sound, and in compliance with direction given and RCMP policy,” he said. “It is always sad for us to have to shoot a magnificent animal like a cougar, but the safety of the community comes first.”
The cougar was about a year-and-a-half old and was not tagged.
McArthur confirmed it was not the same cougar which was spotted in the Whiffin Spit area earlier this summer.
There have been 15 cougar-related sightings since April this year.
