Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 06/02) - Ragnar Wesstrom wasn't feeling the Monday morning blahs this week -- not after his wife Doreen came flying frantically into the bedroom around 10 a.m.

An RWED officer prepares to put a black bear out of its misery with a shot from a high powered hunting rifle in Ndilo Monday morning. The bear was described as a very elderly looking male that wasn't "acting normal." - photo courtesy of Enodah Wilderness Travel

"She was yelling, 'come, you got to see this! You got to see this!'" said Wesstrom, whose house overlooks Yellowknife Bay in Ndilo. "I went out onto the balcony and 50 feet away we saw this black bear."

By the time Wesstrom returned outside with his camera the bear was a lot closer, and appeared to be heading towards the house.

He was able to take several photos of it as the bear lumbered past his deck.

Wesstrom described it as a very elderly looking male bear.

"I was kind of shocked," said Wesstrom, owner of Enodah Wilderness Travel Lodge, and one who has seen plenty of bears in his lifetime.

"I was saying to him, 'what are you doing buddy?' You don't normally see black bears in November.

"A friend of mine caught a bear in a trap at Desperation Lake in February, but I haven't seen anything like this."

Of particular concern to Wesstrom, was that his 11-year-old son Rex had walked to school that morning only a couple hours before.

Wesstrom didn't like the way the bear looked.

"It was a big bear but very skinny," said Wesstrom.

"I saw the bear wasn't acting normal. I was talking to him and he wasn't listening to me."

Teachers at K'alemi Dene school kept children inside while the bear was on the prowl.

"It was pretty scary," said teacher Steve Smith.

RWED on the scene

Called by one of Wesstrom's neighbours, wildlife officers with Renewable Resources, Wildlife, Economic Development were on scene quickly.

By then, the bear had moved down the shore of Yellowknife Bay toward the tip of Latham Island.

Senior wildlife officer Raymond Bourget said it was evident the bear was unhealthy and likely unable to den as a result.

Officers decided the best thing they could do was put it down.

"Given how warm it's been it wouldn't be unheard of to have a bear wandering round outside out of its den, particularly a male bear," said Bourget.

"But the reason he wasn't denned up was just because he wasn't in any condition to survive in a den yet. He needed to put on weight."

The bear was so starved that the muscles on his legs had atrophied, said Bourget. His teeth were also badly worn.

Wesstrom said officers destroyed the bear cleanly and effectively with a high powered rifle.

"There were two shots," said Wesstrom. "Boom, boom, dead, dead."