Bear killed after wandering into Yellowknife neighborhood

By Niles Niemuth

The bear was spotted in Northlands by a resident at around 11 p.m. on Sunday

A black bear was killed by wildlife officers after it was spotted wandering through Yellowknife’s Northlands neighborhood late Sunday night.

Daisy Siguenza saw the bear at the corner of Norseman Drive and Catalina Drive and called it into Environment and Climate Change (ECC) at around 11 p.m.

“I saw lots of kids playing in Northlands. They need to be aware that there is a bear in town. Always. Because this is their place,” Siguenza said.

Julian Sabourin, an ECC renewable resources officer, said the officers who responded attempted to scare the bear off with their vehicles and loud noises but these efforts did not work. 

“We were able to at least get the bear pushed out of the neighborhood, which is what we wanted. The bear then went over to a forested area. Officers continued to pursue the bear and kept pursuing it attempting to haze it, however that wasn’t being very effective,” Sabourin explained.

“The bear wasn’t really worried about being approached by officers, wasn’t fearful. Unfortunately, as a last resort, the bear was dispatched.”

Dispatched translates to killing an animal quickly and humanely.

Bears periodically make their way into Yellowknife from spring to fall in search of food.

The sighting of a bear at the Yellowknife Golf Club in May promoted a “Be Bear Aware” alert from ECC, which noted that encounters increase when bears are able to gain easy access to human food and garbage.

While it is rare for bears to attack humans they do pose a danger.

A retired couple were mauled to death at their McTavish Lake, Saskatchewan, cabin by a bear on July 15.

There have also been bear attacks in the N.W.T.

Related stories from around the North: 

United States: Alaska wildlife agents can kill bears from helicopters in an effort to protect caribou, judge says, The Associated Press

Norway: Could drones help prevent polar bear attacks on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard?, The Independent Barents Observer

United States: Polar bear in fatal Wales attack was in poor health, The Associated Press