Bear shot at Grand Beach Provincial Park

RCMP have shot and killed a bearat Grand Beach Provincial Park on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg.

Beachgoers near the West Beach change rooms at the park, about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg,were not allowed to leave for a time Thursday afternoonbecause of the animal intrusion.

Brad Gross said hesaw the bear in a tree near a sand dune.

"See this tree and he's rippingall the leaves off of it andeating it," Gross said. "He's got these huge monster arms that are as big as most humans likefive-foot-10 stretch easy. It was just a monster. Ithad to be about 300 pounds."

Eleven-year old Kate Knight was with her grandmother when they saw the black bear. The girl said she pointed officers towards the animal.

"The trucks came up and there were just these loud gunshots that we heard," she said.

Some witnesses say they heard up to eight shots fired.

AManitoba government spokespersonsaid the bear was in the dunes at the West Beach and police were called in to shootit because of the number of people in the area and concerns about safety. That's the usual protocol when a bear is in a heavily populated area.