A pair of cougars triggered an intrusion alarm early Friday morning as they paced along the tracks at a station in Port Moody.
The big cats set off the alarm at about 4:15 a.m., a TransLink spokesperson said. Surveillance cameras at Inlet Centre Station captured the cats walking along the guideway at track-level on the Millennium line.
But the pawed prowlers didn't stick around for long.
Staff searched the line but were unable to find the cougars before morning service began, and they have not been seen since.
It is not clear how they got in and out of the station, TransLink's Chris Bryan said, but staff are inspecting the fencing to ensure there is no easy way for the cats to get on to the tracks. Conservation officers have been alerted, and will be advising TransLink staff on the case.
"While cougars are a first for us, this is not the only time wildlife has been spotted on the system," Bryan told CTV News.
"There have been coyote and raccoon sightings in the past. We also see domestic animals on the tracks now and then."
He said animals are more common along the Evergreen extension, a line which runs through areas less populated by humans.
While it wasn't on the tracks, SkyTrain staff faced another animal-related incident in the fall when a half-dozen trees were damaged near a parking lot. Initially, investigators thought they were looking at a vandalism case, but it was later determined the trees were felled by a beaver.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Travis Prasad
