Cougar attack reported in North Vancouver

North Vancouver RCMP have called off the search for a reported cougar after a man said he had been attacked Thursday afternoon.

An unidentified man told a local resident that he had been bitten by a cougar just after 4 p.m. PT near Lillooet Road and Premier Street. The man told the resident he was driving himself to hospital for treatment, and the resident then called police.

An RCMP helicopter circled the area and conservation officers conducted a ground search but there were no sightings of the big cat or evidence of an attack.

Police have also not been able to locate the reported victim.

RCMP have issued a news release asking whoever claimed to be attacked by a cougar, or whoever knows the man, to contact them immediately to confirm the information.

Conservation officers killed two cougars near Squamish, B.C., in June after one tried to attack a three-year-old, but was fought off by the child's mother. The second cougar was shot after it attacked two dogs, also near Squamish.

Five people have been killed by cougar attacks in the past 100 years in B.C., according to the provincial environment ministry website. Four of those deaths occurred on Vancouver Island.

During the same period, there were 29 non-fatal attacks in British Columbia, 20 of which occurred on Vancouver Island, the website said.

The majority of the attacks were on children under the age of 16.