UPDATE: 2:30 p.m. Feb. 25

VERNON – An injured cougar spotted this morning near a North Okanagan elementary school has been put down.

Sgt. Josh Lockwood with the conservation service says the two-year-old male cougar had a bad leg injury and bite marks around its neck and back.

“It appears it may have been in a territorial attack with another cougar,” Lockwood says.

The cougar was spotted this morning around 5 a.m. half a block from Kidston Elementary School.

“Half a block away, that’s a problem,” Lockwood says.

Conservation officers tracked the cougar’s bloody footprints into Kal Park and shot it just before noon. While it may have survived the injury, it would likely have turned to easy prey.

“It would’ve become a real problem because eventually, with a wound like that, it won’t be able to go after its natural food source so it will take pets and, at the opportunity, a small child,” Lockwood says.

He suspects the cougar was already preying upon house cats, but an examination of its stomach cavity will tell for sure.

The conservation service has been busy this winter with numerous cougar complaints. They’ve had to put down at least two others.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.

Original story

VERNON – The conservation service is again sweeping the Coldstream area for a cougar.

Conservation officer Mike Richardson says they haven’t been able to confirm a sighting on Palfrey Drive reported early this morning, but they did talk to the complainant.

“It appears the cougar was near a car port and then he saw the complainant and jumped over a wall and headed up south. My assumption is he’s heading back to Kalamalka Park,” Richardson says.

The complainant said the cougar was limping slightly, though it “leaped over the wall no problem.”

Richardson suspects the cougar was drawn out of Kal Park by a group of deer in the area.

Conservation officers are checking the area for tracks, and advising residents in the area to keep an eye on pets and walk in groups for the next couple days.

It's been a busy winter for the conservation service, which has received numerous calls about cougars and had to put some down.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.