An injured cougar that had been spotted in residential and commercial neighbourhoods in Port Alberni for the past few weeks has been euthanized.

Port Alberni RCMP and a B.C. Conservation Service officer cornered the cougar in a yard in the Fourth Avenue and Dunbar Street area on Sunday, Oct. 12, immobilized it and "humanely dispatched" it, a B.C. Conservation spokesperson said in an e-mail to the Alberni Valley News.

"Physical assessment of the animal found that it had what appeared to be a gunshot wound to a leg and into the chest," the spokesperson said. The cougar had a "badly broken" leg and in photos taken by neighbours looks emaciated. The animal was put down at the site.

The cougar had been spotted underneath the Port Alberni Port Authority office building at Fisherman's Harbour

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