A Baker City Police officer shot and killed a 6-month-old cougar about 3:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, inside Mount Hope Cemetery.

Police Chief Ty Duby said officer Mason Powell shot the cougar with his police-issued AR-15 rifle.

Duby said the department’s protocol is to kill cougars within the city limits if it’s safe to do so.

“It’s a matter of community safety,” Duby said Thursday morning.

Duby said he didn’t have details about the incident because Powell was off duty Thursday morning after working the overnight shift.

Duby said Powell might have been driving through the cemetery, which is east of South Bridge Street in the city’s southwest corner, as officers sometimes do during their nighttime patrols.

Powell brought the cougar to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife office in Baker City.

Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at the office, said Thursday morning that the cougar is a female.

Ratliff said a 6-month-old cougar would typically not be on its own at that age. He said cougar kittens aren’t always “side by side” with their mother, however.

Ratliff said he examined the carcass and concluded that the cougar, although not “plump,” was also not emaciated. He said he found what appeared to be a robin-sized bird in the cougar’s stomach.

Ratliff said he would expect that a 6-month-old cougar that had been separated from its mother for an extended period likely would be in poor shape, since cougars of that age aren’t skilled hunters. He said a 6-month-old cougar could probably kill birds and small mammals, such as a housecat, but would not be strong enough to take down a deer, the cougars’ favorite prey.

Both Ratliff and Duby said there have not been any reports of possible cougar sightings in or around the cemetery recently.

Ratliff said he and Justin Primus, assistant district biologist, planned to go to the cemetery today and see if they can find tracks in the snow, or other evidence that other cougars had been in the area.

Ratliff said the cougar was definitely not older than 6 months, as the cat still had its baby canine teeth. Cougars’ adult canines typically erupt when they’re around 6 months old, he said.