Local hunter Thomas Shea killed the polar bear seen roaming around Kuujjuaq on Tuesday evening. (Photo credit of Shanna Gordon)
No other polar bears in Kuujjuaq after Tuesday’s incident, police say
Hunter shot and killed a bear wandering through downtown; police, night guard conducted patrols afterward
After a polar bear was shot and killed in downtown Kuujjuaq Tuesday evening, police say no other bears have been spotted near the town since then.
Nunavik Police Service received its first call that the bear was roaming through the village at about 5 p.m., and by 5:30 p.m., it had been shot and killed by a hunter, said Deputy Chief Jean-François Morin.
“People from the community were already there when police got there,” he said.
“They had circled the bear to contain it. They were trying to figure out if they could make him go away by itself. The more people there would be, the more dangerous it got.”
At some point, the bear “charged towards the public,” Morin said, and was shot multiple times before it died.
Leading up to that, the bear was spotted moving around Kuujjuaq’s downtown, as seen on numerous photos and videos shared on social media.
One of those videos was taken near a set of stairs leading up to a house, and showed a child in the doorway at the top of the stairs.
“The kid saw [the bear], and immediately turned around and sprinted inside like lightning,” said Morin.
Morin said there were no veterinary services or sedatives available in the community, which might have allowed the bear to be trapped rather than killed.
He said the bear was young and thin. Police were unable to get much more information regarding the bear, because its body was collected by community members after it was killed.
Immediately afterward, due to the bear’s young age community members feared its mother might still be nearby.
Nunavik police, alongside Kuujjuaq’s night guard, were on patrol throughout the night and “we did not receive any details” regarding any more bears being sighted, Morin said.
He said police also heard that people might have spotted wolves near the town also, but “we were unable to validate if there were other bears or wolves that were in the community.”
He added: “Everyone remains on guard, just to make sure the mother is not looking for her kid.”
No injuries were reported during the incident Tuesday.
Kuujjuaq’s Jaanimmarik schools remained closed Wednesday morning to ensure children’s safety, they said in a social media post.
Are there any issues with discharging a firearm in town? When a polar bear is killed as a “defense kill” do the hunters get to keep the bear, or must it be turned in?