THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - A black bear with blond-coloured fur – a rare animal believed to have spiritual significance in Dene culture – was shot near Fort Smith in mid-September.

This blond-coloured black bear was photographed over the summer along Highway 5 by a Fort Smith hunter who shot what he believes was a different light-coloured bear in September. - photo courtesy of Karl Cox

The man who shot the animal – Karl Cox of Fort Smith – was moose hunting at the time and said the bear was a danger.

"I wouldn't have shot it for the trophy alone," he said. "It was a problem bear."

Cox said he is also virtually certain it was not the blond-coloured black bear occasionally spotted since last year along Highway 5 near Little Buffalo River.

That highway bear has become somewhat famous with some people feeding it and taking photographs.

Cox, who has seen the bear along the highway and taken photographs of it, said it has dark circles around the eyes, while the one he shot does not.

Plus, the bear he shot was a big male animal, larger than the one along the highway, and has differently-coloured ankles. Cox shot the blond-coloured bear when he and a friend were hunting moose northwest of Fort Smith, near Little Buffalo River and north of Highway 5.

They had set up camp and left for an hour, and returned to find the camp had been entered by a bear and food containers broken open.

"We heard him run off," Cox said, adding the bear was likely watching as they set up camp.

Not long afterwards, he was walking on a trail near the camp when he spotted the bear.

"We kind of ran into each other," he said, adding the bear started to run away, but then stopped.

Cox said once the bear was through the camp, it was a danger to everyone.

"Quite likely, it would have been around all night," he said.

Cox said he shot the bear because of that danger and because he was licensed to do so, adding he and his hunting partner ate some of the meat.

As a problem bear, he said it was going to get shot by someone.

In fact, he found buckshot in the hind quarters of the bear, indicating it had been shot at least once before.

Cox said bears become dangerous once people feed them.

The hunter has not heard any objections from Fort Smith residents about his decision to shoot the bear.

"No one has expressed any negative comments," he said.

In fact, he said it appears some people may be envious he has the fur, which he plans to make into a rug.

However, Francois Paulette, a well-known elder with Smith's Landing First Nation, is very disappointed the bear was shot.

"It was an unfortunate mistake this individual made," he said.

Paulette explained such rare light-coloured black bears have spiritual and sacred significance in Dene culture and should be left alone.

Paulette added there are also Dene stories about other white-colored mammals – bison, beaver and moose.

"For Dene, you are not allowed to shoot the rare sightings of these mammals," he said, adding a white bison holds the most significance.

Paulette doesn't accept the explanation that shooting the bear was justified for safety reasons.

"Not at all," he said. "They could have moved their camp."

Paulette said he has heard of sightings of three separate light-colored black bears along Highway 5.

The elder said anyone seeing such a bear should mind their own business and leave it alone, and especially not feed it.

However, he said taking photographs would cause no harm.

Troy Ellsworth, the manager of wildlife and environment with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the hunter had a proper licence to shoot the bear.

"It's from our perspective a legally-harvested bear," Ellsworth said, adding the hunter did not intentionally go after the bear.

Ellsworth said there is no way to know if it is the same bear sighted along Highway 5.

He added, in 2008, there was also another sighting of a light-coloured black bear further west in Wood Buffalo National Park.

Ellsworth said black bears come in various colours – called phases – including black, brown, cinnamon, blond and white, which is the rarest colour.