The BC Conservation Officer Service says a lone cougar cub caught after spending a wild night in Courtenay is being sent to the Greater Vancouver Zoo.

The young cat had been spotted at several locations around the city over the past few days when it finally ran into problems – literally – at a shopping plaza.

Gerry Fairbrother was in the plaza parking lot as the cub desperately tried to find freedom, at one point running into a glass door at a BC Liquor Store, frightening itself.

“As I got out of my car this obviously young cougar bolted from underneath this parked car,” said Fairbrother. “The cat was obviously very, very scared and luckily nobody was hurt and from what I hear, the cat wasn’t hurt either, so two thumbs up to that.”

Officers received reports of the cougar being spotted around town, and when they tracked it down they determined it was no older than four months.

“It was seen without its mother or any siblings. It just kind of showed up and started getting into trouble here and there,” said conservation officer James Hilgemann. “Having a young animal like this alone without mother is uncommon, especially with cougars in urban areas.”

Thanks to several members of the public who scared the animal toward the Courtenay River, it was eventually captured by conservation officers and tranquilized.

On the advice of a wildlife veterinarian, the young cat was transferred to the Greater Vancouver Zoo so it “can do a full assessment of health and provide a permanent home,” the province said.

An animal care manager at the zoo said the facility got a call about the cougar Friday morning.

“At this point the survival of the cub is first and foremost,” said Menita Prasad. She said she heard the cub was doing “fairly well” but staff at the zoo won’t know until they can physically evaluate it in person.

The hope is that the cougar will acclimate to the zoo as it will now likely be habituated to humans, Prasad said.

“Because we will be interacting with it, it will be habituated so I don’t think release is an option,” she said. “If we do take in this animal we would hopefully get it to the point where it would be on exhibit in our facility.”

She said the zoo won’t make any decisions until they can guarantee the cub’s survival.

The province says cougars are not generally admitted to orphan animal-rearing programs, which see animals eventually released back into the wild, due to the potential for safety issues should they become habituated to humans.

With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Gord Kurbis