Polar bears get too close for comfort in Nain, St. Lunaire-Griquet

A black bear and a polar bear both had to be put down in Nainover the weekend after coming into residential areas.

Simon Kohlmeister, a volunteer bear monitor in Nain, got a call from St. John's early Sunday morning about reports of a polar bear.

Kohlmeistertold the Labrador Morning Show that he found the report surprising and he assumed it was a case of mistaken identity.

"I took my time and Ithought it was just a regular black bear call," he said.

As Kohlmeister and an RCMP officer got closer to the bear's location, they had to decide whether it had to be put down.

"We had to try and find a way to shoot the bear or get the bear out of town before it hurt someone," he said, adding they had to make a split-second decision whether to put the bear down or try to scare it off.

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With the bear close to residential areas and people beginning to gather, the decision was made to put the bear down, he said.The bear's body was kept cool in the RCMPshed overnight. The animal was then butchered and its meat put in the community freezer.

"Everything is being used," Kohlmeistersaid.

Black bear also put down

But the polar bear wasn't the only bear-related incident in Nainover the weekend.Two black bears were also spotted in town.

The first, and larger, of the two black bears was scared away fairly easily, Kohlmeistersaid, but the second was more determined to stick around.

"The smaller one was on someone's steps eating dried char," he said. After an attempt to drive the bear away from a residential area, it was put down.

Bear activity around the community is not unusual, Kohlmeister said. There were not many bears last year, but the year before several had to be shotby the town's volunteer bear monitors.

Polar bear on the Northern Peninsula

In other polar bear news, the Iceberg Festivalheld its annual polar bear dip this weekend and one ursine visitor took the event very literally.

Just a few hours after the dip closed out the Iceberg Festival, held yearly on the Northern Peninsula, a polar bear was seen on shore inSt. Lunaire-Griquet.

"A crowd gathered quite fast, actually," said Damien Bartlett, who was in the area, told the St. John's Morning Show.

Bartlett,of L'Anse aux Meadows, said higher numbers of polar bears than usual have been spotted in the area this year, and that sightings both started earlier and with this weekend's visitor are continuinglater than average. There is more pack ice in the water around St. Lunaire-Griquetthan usual for June, which likely explains the bear's arrival.

Once it came ashore, the bear peeked into a shed, swam across to a small island in the harbour, climbed around on some old boats and generally provided entertainment.

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"He got up and put on quite a show for the crowd that gathered, but he kept his distance," Bartlett said. "He was quite calm."

Curious polar bear comes to land on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula

6 years ago

Duration 0:18

A polar bear snooped around the town of St. Lunaire-Griquet over the weekend.

The bear eventually got back in the water and swam away without incident, he said, but definitely left an impression.

"Iwas talking to a couple of tourists there. They seemed very excited to see a polar bear," he said.

"They weren't expecting to come to L'Anse aux Meadows and see a polar bear."

What to do if you see a bear

Of course, an up-close encounter with a polar bear can be dangerous as well as exciting. Kohlmeistersaidif you come across a black bear you should try to look as large as possible, jump up and down and make a lot of noise.

"But don't run," he said. "Because if you runs, he'll come after you."

In the case of polar bears like the one that came ashore on the Northern Peninsula, Bartlett advises staying calm and keeping your distance.

"For the most part they seem to do their thing, and Iguess if we do our thing Iguess there shouldn't be no trouble."

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