Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 06/02) - A black bear that terrorized a family of three two weeks ago near Prosperous Lake has been captured and destroyed by wildlife officers.

Raymond Bourget, senior wildlife officer with Renewable Resources, Wildlife, and Economic Development, said a live trap was installed on a trail near Tartan Rapids after the encounter was reported, and a bear captured last Friday.

The bear was the same size reported by Craig Walters -- whose family had to make a hasty retreat Aug. 24 by boat after facing off with the aggressive animal -- but the wrong sex.

He originally thought it was a male. The full-grown female weighed in at approximately 150 kilograms.

"It was a big bear," said Bourget. "She was really fat. She had a good coat of fat on her."

Bourget said they decided to destroy the bear because of the aggressive behaviour it displayed toward Walters, his wife Violet and infant daughter Mahala.

"The fact that it had showed aggressive behaviour, and it had basically learned that it could come in and intimidate people," said Bourget. "With that comes the potential to become bolder and more aggressive."

The family was at Tartan Rapids for an afternoon of fishing when they encountered the animal.

It began woofing and puffing, and followed the family back to their boat while Walters tried to ward it off by throwing rocks and other objects, including a Pepsi bottle he was carrying.

Walters said he is relieved the bear will no longer pose a threat, but angered that it had to be destroyed.

He said the bear was likely attracted to the site because people had left fish guts near the shore.

"I'm kind of mad because of people feeding the bear," said Walters. "There should be stiffer fines for littering. Next time, people might not be so lucky."