Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Tuktoyaktuk (Apr 15/02) - Patrick "Dang" Gruben went hunting for caribou April 4, but he ended up bagging a polar bear instead.

The 37-year-old hunter was out with his brother Richard at Husky Lakes about 60 kilometres east of town when the pair spotted a set of bear tracks.

They followed the tracks thinking they would find a big grizzly, but were surprised to find a polar bear wandering around Second Husky Lake, about 16 kilometres inland.

"To get a polar bear that far inland is really strange," Gruben says.

After spotting the bear, Gruben headed back to town to get a polar bear hunting tag, while his brother continued to look for caribou.

When Gruben returned with a bear tag, he managed to relocate the bear and kill it. The bear was a young male, about 400 pounds, 7.5 feet (2.3 metres) tall and in good condition.

"When I came back and told my friends I got a polar bear inland, my friends said they had to see it to believe it. I had to unlash my sled to show the guys the hide."

Judging from the bear's description, polar bear biologist Ian Stirling said the bear was probably about two or three years old. He agreed that it's unusual, but not unheard of, to find polar bears inland.

He said about 10 years ago, a polar bear was found all the way up the Mackenzie River at Tsiigehtchic, and two years ago, a polar bear from western Hudson's Bay was found swimming in a lake in northern Saskatchewan. More often than not, the wandering bears are young males exploring for new territory and getting lost.

"Just like young teenage males of the human species, young male bears are a little more adventuresome and a little more crazy," Stirling said with a laugh.

Stirling was in Inuvik April 10 and 11 for an annual polar bear management meeting between the Inupiat of Alaska and the Inuvialuit.