Iqaluit wildlife officers on lookout for polar bear’s return

Alicia Manning grabbed her phone while at work at Inuksugait Plaza and managed to capture this photo of a polar bear taking a stroll through downtown Iqaluit around lunchtime July 16. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ALICIA MANNING)

The polar bear that strolled through Iqaluit July 16 might come back.

“Most likely it will. I can’t say it has found its food source but it’s already been through town,” said wildlife manager Jason Aliqatuqtuq.

“In most cases they do [come back] unless there’s been a good deterrence of it,” he said.

If it returns, it’s likely because it’s hungry and looking for food, Aliqatuqtuq said.

This is the second polar bear to visit Iqaluit in the same week.

Officers scared the first one away but it came back the next day and Aliqatuqtuq was tasked with shooting it.

He said the polar bear “got pretty close” to him, and he had to kill it, but it wasn’t
a proud moment.

“No, I would rather deter them if I can. But at the same time, public safety is paramount,” Aliqatuqtuq said.

If yesterday’s bear does return to Nunavut’s populous capital, wildlife officers wouldn’t try to kill it right away, he said.

“It all depends on the circumstance. We do our best to deter it first. But if it’s a threat to public safety — they’re all a threat to public safety — but if it’s an immediate threat to public safety, we have no choice but to destroy the bear,” Aliqatuqtuq said.

When officers first get word of a polar bear in town, they stock up on ammunition, shotguns and cracker shells. Then they go on the hunt.

Officers would first canvas locations where bear sightings had been reported. That’s what happened July 16 when officers went out to patrol the causeway area near the dump, by the beach at the elders centre, and at the breakwater.

Since those first sighting July 16, three wildlife officers have been on constant lookout.

“Last night, right throughout the night, we had officers patrolling from the causeway, down to the beach, by the breakwater, from midnight until 7 a.m. this morning,” Aliqatuqtuq said.

This isn’t Aliqatuqtuq’s first experience with polar bears. He said in the four years he’s lived in Iqaluit, he’s had to deal with four bears in town He’s seen them in Apex and by the causeway area, or the dump.

A bear can show up anywhere. Which means people have to be vigilant, Aliqatuqtuq warns.

“Be aware — as lots of people are going out and about and people are fishing and as we start to get good weather,” Aliqatuqtuq said.

“I would have to say, it’s very dangerous. I don’t think it’s an animal you want to walk up to and take photos of.”

One person who did manage to snap a photo of the bear was Alicia Manning.

She posted a picture on social media July 16 of the bear making its way through downtown Iqaluit.

Manning wasn’t scared though — she was four stories above the hungry mammal inside the yellow Inuksugait building when people next to her cubicle started yelling, “Polar bear! Polar bear!” Manning said.

“I just happened to turn around, and he was going so fast. And I was trying to get out my phone, get my camera going,” Manning said.

In the nine years Manning has lived in Iqaluit, this is the first live polar bear she’s witnessed.

She said people at street level were running in every direction when they saw it. She was surprised how quickly the big predator moved.

“It was running pretty fast,” Manning said.

“There was also a truck following it at the time. And just as it was crossing the road, I could see people walking. And they kind of stopped dead in their tracks and turned and ran the other way. At that point, it was crossing the road, like West 40 area,” she said.

“Everyone that knew what was going on was shouting. Because I had my window open at work — I could hear people saying, ‘Polar bear in the road! Polar bear in the road!’”

Aliqatuqtuq said he’s heard rumours that three other polar bears are on their way toward the city limits.

“I can’t confirm that. That’s what we’ve heard too, but we don’t have actual confirmation,” Aliqatuqtuq said.

He said he’s getting help from a number of other agencies including Iqaluit Municipal Enforcement, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the RCMP and a park ranger at Sylvia Grinnell.

If you see a polar bear, call the wildlife office immediate at 867 975 7900.

The Government of Nunavut said yesterday in a series of tweets and a press release to stay indoors if you see a polar bear.

“Do not approach the polar bear. Do not try to find the polar bear if you hear of a sighting,” the GN said.

“The work of the conservation officer is more difficult if there are people in the vicinity of the bear.”