A St. John's police officer used his handgun to kill a moose after it was hit by a car on the Trans-Canada Highway in Newfoundland on Wednesday.

A person in the car that struck the animal was taken to hospital with non-life- threatening injuries and released.

Police say the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer who shot the moose near Butterpot Park, about 50 kilometres west of St. John's, was returning from dropping a prisoner off at a correctional facility in Clarenville, N.L., when he happened upon the accident scene.

Sgt. Ralph Mitchell says the moose was thrashing around in the middle of the highway when the officer arrived. He said two of the moose's legs appeared to have been broken.

Mitchell says one of the officers called for permission to use his gun to put the animal out of its misery. He discharged his handgun into the moose's head, behind its ear.

Provincial wildlife officers eventually removed the moose from the highway, and the RCMP were called in to deal with the accident.