Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Baker Lake (July 18/01) - The Kivalliq community of Baker Lake remains under a grizzly bear watch after two intense weeks that included the hamlet being declared a state of emergency.

Officials with the territory's Department of Sustainable Development said on Friday Baker Lake is under watch because of an unusually high number of bears in the area.

Two weeks ago the hamlet called a state of emergency after three cabins were ransacked by bears.

The state of emergency was lifted last week after a wildlife officer and two assistants shot three of the bears causing most of the damage on July 10.

According to wildlife officer Joe Niego, the three bears -- a sow and two cubs-- were both healthy.

"They were spoiled bears," said Niego, who shot the mother bear in the head with a .243-calibre rifle at around 1 a.m. on July 8.

No autopsy was performed and the meat was distributed to the community.

Campbell said there are still about seven bears in the area, but they pose no immediate danger.

"It got blown out of proportion," said Campbell about the bear situation.

"Baker Lake is not used to having that many bears," he said.

Campbell said he has no concrete explanation for the increase in bear numbers around the community.

He said the bears could have been attracted by a number of caribou carcasses near the community.

"Global warming is a possibility," said Campbell.

Warmer temperatures means an increase in food, which could boost bear populations.

Campbell said the department is working on nailing down the exact population of grizzly bears.

"We're currently working on a project for all of Nunavut to have the state of the grizzly bear brought to date," said Campbell.

He didn't know when the study would be completed.