Bear scare recounted
Teen tells tale of close encounter
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The dogs barking were the first sign of a visitor outside where Logan Shupe lives last Thursday in the Range Lake neighbourhood.
Logan Shupe, 14, stands behind the screen door that separated him from a black bear Aug. 13. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
The 14-year-old went to a window and peered out.
About two feet away from the front door of the Brown Court home was a two-year-old male black bear.
"I was just shocked," he told Yellowknifer the day after seeing the animal. "It was kind of scary."
He's seen bears along the side of the highway before, but never this close, he said.
The bear sniffed around his mother's flowers in the front yard before wandering off south toward Rivett Crescent.
His older brother, who was upstairs, didn't believe him at first until he saw it for himself. Neither did his parents until a neighbour confirmed his account to them. Shupe said he first called RCMP to report the bear.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources was called around 3 p.m., according to spokesperson Judy McLinton.
Two officers responded and patrolled the area before going down what she described as a bypass on foot where they found the bear. A helicopter was used in the search for the bear as well. A decision was made to kill it.
"The bear was in a highly populated area and there was no safe way to move the bear out of this area without it becoming aggressive and agitated," McLinton stated in an e-mail.
It was shot and killed in the area of the Shell gas station on Range Lake Road. When an animal is killed, McLinton stated that carcasses are usually offered to First Nations, but are not always taken.
It was the second reported bear sighting in the city this year. The last one was in May near Parker Park. A trap was set but no bear was caught.
