Marauding grizzly bear shot dead in Dawson City, Yukon

Some Dawson City residents are still reeling after a close encounter with an aggressive grizzly bear.

Yukon conservation officers saidthe animal was spotted in the Dome subdivision on Friday, and wouldn't leave despite residents' efforts to scare it off.

Conservation Officer Kirby Meister describedit as a "very, very old male grizzly bear.Very big."

Meistersays several attempts to trap the bear over the weekend failed. On three occasions, the grizzly made off with the bait without getting caught.

Meister says the bear returned to one resident's yard early onMonday, and tried to break into a shed. The resident shot the bear dead when it began to approachtheir home.

"[The bear]was quite thin for this time of year, he had very little fat on him," Meister said."So it's possible he was going to be in trouble for the winter here."

Black bears are commonly seen around Dawson, according to Meister, but grizzlies rarely wanderinto the community.