Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Jun 18/01) - Albert Bernhardt came face to face with a grizzly bear last week at his workplace but for him that's not so unusual.
He's not a wildlife officer, biologist or zoo-keeper. He runs the town dump.
"I saw it and it came up towards me," he said the day after in his small office which has just enough room for a desk, a few shelves and a portable burner for warming up a tin coffee pot.
The shack's windows look out on an ocean of garbage that blankets a landscape studded with small trees.
"It came toward me and I thought, 'Oh, it's going too fast'."
Bernhardt called the authorities. Last he heard the bear was chased away with rubber bullets.
Bernhardt has managed the dump on and off for as long as he can remember.
Close encounters with bears are part of the job. In a single day, eight bears came in search of delicious snacks.
But there are fewer visits now because Bernhardt pushes garbage into piles, clearing the plate before bears drop in.
Bernhardt enjoys watching bears as they gently open garbage bags and nose around the place.
"Sometimes they eat ice cream and they look silly with their mouth all white," he said.
Bernhardt also understands the dangers. The bears are a magnet for tourists and he worries about their safety.
"The tourists might stay in their car but a car is nothing," he said. "If (grizzlies) can move a caribou or uproot trees, what's a car?"
