A Sad Day in Churchill

There are 25,000 polar bears in the world, of which 15,000 live in arctic Canada and around Churchill.  Most of these bears live far from people and towns.  Not so in Churchill, not only is there  a small town, but 10,000 or so tourist come here yearly to see the polar bears, and other wildlife.  Polar bears and people don't mix well.  Unlike brown and black bears that view humans as an obstruction and something in their way, the polar bears are predatory and view us, and most things as food.  They are also all over the place, hungry and just waiting for the ice to form so that they can go out on the ice and hunt seals.  There are 4 less bears here today.  Last Saturday, a young woman walking alone at 5 AM was attacked by a bear.  A long time resident heard the commotion, grabbed a shovel and ran out to help the woman.  The bear turned and attacked him, threw him to the ground and finally ran away when other people arrived.  The bear was tracked into an outlying area and shot--but, they shot the wrong bear.  The dead bear was the mother of a cub.  The cub will be transferred to a zoo because it is too young to fend for itself.  The offender bear was then found and shot.  In another incident yesterday, a man was attached by a bear and was shot by another person.     So sad.