Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Sep 30/05) - It was third-time-unlucky for a grizzly bear that was destroyed by renewable resources officers on Wednesday evening, Sept. 21, when it was spotted foraging for food in residents' garbage bins on Tuma Road.

An-eight-foot-long, 650-lb grizzly bear lies in Environment and Natural Resources cold storage at Shell Lake after it was put down by renewable resource officers last Wednesday evening, Sept. 21, on Tuma Road. - Jason Unrau/NNSL photo

"That bear had been back three times," said resources officer Ian Ellsworth. "It had chased a dog right to somebody's doorstep on Tuma."

Ellsworth said officers have had to shoot four black bears within Inuvik town limits this season, but this was the first instance of a grizzly having to be destroyed.

"It's pretty rare," he said, adding that this grizzly is the first he can remember. "We know they are around but generally they don't come through town."

On Tuesday evening, Sept. 20, renewable resources officers responded to a call about a grizzly in the Tuma Road area and again on Wednesday morning, "at around 5 a.m."

Dog bark alerts

But they were not able to locate the animal on either occasion. Then on Wednesday night, Rosanne Snow and her daughter Kate were out for a walk when they spotted the bear again.

"I also saw it on Tuesday night when our dog Mukluk barked really weirdly," said Kate, noting that it was not the sound Mukluk usually makes when he sees other dogs. "(The bear) was trying to tip the neighbour's garbage on the one side (of our house) then walked across our yard to the other neighbour's garbage bin. Then it looked like he got spooked and went away."

However, when the bear - a male, weighing approximately 650 lbs - returned on Wednesday, it would prove to be his last visit to the cul de sac on the east end of town.

"We had some help from the RCMP and it took us about an hour and a half to get it," said Ellsworth, who received the call at around 10 p.m.

"It was getting aggressive with some of the dogs and public safety is our number one concern."

Generally solitary animals, Ellsworth says bears are attracted to the town dump and often wander between there, the Tuma Road area and the north side of the bypass road.

He asks that anybody sighting wild animals in town report them to the renewable resources "on-call" number, 777-1185.

He says that people should be vigilant when walking around town, especially on the cross-country ski trails and around Boot Lake.

"Don't be running from the bear, back away slowly," Ellsworth said. "Also, if you see signs of bear scat, don't take any chances, get out of the area."

Ellsworth estimates the risk of bear encounters in the region will remain high for at least the next 30 days.

"In another month or so, that will be the end of bear season and they'll start hibernating," he said. "But grizzlies tend to stay out longer than black bears."