Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Inuvik (July 16/01) - A wandering grizzly bear stopped traffic and delayed tourists in Inuvik late Wednesday afternoon.

RCMP and Wildlife officers received a call just after 3 p.m. that the medium-sized bear had put in an appearance on the shore of Inuvik's public docks.

"I just got my tent up and was going to walk into town," said Michelle Quaglia, who was camping at Inuvik's Happy Valley campground. "A girl who worked at the campground came over and shouted at us to get inside," she added.

Wildlife officer Doug Villeneuve said that when he arrived, the bear was "hunkered down by the river dock area by some willows." Villeneuve attempted to frighten the bear away from town by shooting it with a rubber bullet, but the bear, "reversed direction," heading even closer to town.

"At that point," said Villeneuve, "we made a determination to destroy the bear."

Police and wildlife officers fired at least five shots at the bear, possibly grazing it once. However, the bear managed to elude police and wildlife trackers.

Inuvik RCMP Detachment Commander Staff Sgt. Mark Wharton said he saw the bear as it made its way past the town's sewage lagoon. "I saw it running afterwards and I made a notation (in his notebook) that the bear appeared to be unharmed."

"It ran north along (Twin Lake's) lake shore," said Villeuneuve, and was last spotted on Navy Road by Northern Transport employees working nearby.

Villeneuve said bringing down the bear was made more difficult by the large number of people who came to watch the bear down at the docks.

"I heard there were some people, probably young people, throwing rocks at the bear while it was in the willows," said Villeneuve. "The best thing for the public to do is keep away."

"I had six members out at the boat launch," said Wharton, "and three of them were trying to keep the spectators away."

The bear is the second grizzly to wander into town in less than a month. A large grizzly was positively identified by sighting and tracks near the Navy Road bypass recently.

In late June, Inuvik's municipal constable had to shoot two black bears that were feeding at the town dump and wouldn't leave.

Police are asking the public to immediately contact them and RWED if they see bears in or near town.