Rare polar bear sighting draws hopeful hunters to Sylvia Grinnell park

A polar bear “as big as a Corolla” was shot and killed by wildlife officers in Iqaluit’s Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park Tuesday evening.

Miles Brewster arrives at Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park Tuesday evening in an amphibious SHERP vehicle, ready to hunt a polar bear. (Photo by Daron Letts)

Police blocked the park entrance after the bear was sighted at around 7:15 p.m., RCMP spokesperson Sgt. George Henrie said in an email on Wednesday morning.

“Shortly after receiving the call, about seven RCMP officers attended the location to assist Nunavut wildlife officers,” he said.

“RCMP were there to ensure the safety of the public and to evacuate the park.”

The bear was shot by wildlife officers about an hour later, RCMP officers at the scene said.

But that didn’t stop several hunters from coming down in hopes of nabbing the bear themselves.

Miles Brewster and a small group of young hunters showed up at the park gate in a SHERP, an amphibious all-terrain vehicle designed to traverse extreme environments.

He was hoping to shoot the bear but was stopped by the RCMP officers at the gate.

They had seen a Facebook post about the bear sighting.

“It should be the young Inuit hunters that should shoot it,” Brewster said, popping his head out the rugged vehicle’s sunroof.

“That would be the most ideal thing.”

Resident Michael Alexander also brought a crew of hunters, including an elder, but were also stopped at the gate.

Alexander said he watched the bear walk along the ridge near the park pavilion through his binoculars before wildlife officers killed the bear out of sight from Iqaluit Lane.

“It just looked like a big skinny bear,” Alexander said, adding its fur was muddy. “I was able to see the hip bones. We were going to go and take care of it.”

Alexander said he took issue that an elder from the community gave the men permission to hunt the bear, but the three RCMP officers standing at the park entrance did not.

“They’re even stopping our own elder,” Alexander said.

Dozens of others trickled past the park entrance hoping to view the bear, including five tourists from Ottawa.

Even an off-duty RCMP officer was drawn by the drama. Cpl. Erika Vekeman said she abandoned Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup final to catch a glimpse. She did.

Iqaluit hunter Michael Alexander scans the horizon for a polar bear Tuesday evening from the entrance to Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park. Wildlife officers shot the bear shortly after 8:30 p.m. (Photo by Daron Letts)

“When I got here, he was cresting the hill. He was just walking up and down the hill,” she said. “I don’t know polar bears, but they’re telling me that he’s about the size of a Corolla,” she said, referring to the model of a Toyota sedan.

It was resident Tina Akpalialuk-Anawak who alerted the community to the bear’s presence at 7:40 p.m. when she posted a photo on Facebook of the bear walking at the base of the ridge near the park pavilion.

Her sister captured the image, she said in a Facebook message.

“I was shaking too much to take a photo,” she told Nunatsiaq News.

At the time the bear was shot, it was on the ice, out of sight of the park entrance. 

The last time a polar bear sighting was reported in Iqaluit was in February.

Representatives from the Nunavut Wildlife Office were not available for comment by press time.