One dead, two injured after polar bear attack

Nunavut officials are investigating a polar bear attack that killed an Inuit hunter and injured two others, the second fatal attack this summer.

“It’s been a tough day,” Rob Hedley, administrator of the hamlet of Naujaat, where the hunting party set off from, said Tuesday.

Hedley said they were found by search parties on Lyon Inlet, a common place to hunt, about 100 kilometres east of Naujaat.

The hunters left the community, which is on the northernmost shore of Hudson Bay, on Aug. 21 to hunt narwhal and caribou. The three were expected home on Thursday.

“They’re young, but experienced hunters,” Hedley said.

Police say they were notified when the trio hadn’t shown up by Sunday. Search efforts by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre, the Nunavut Emergency Management office and a local search team began Monday.

Resources included a Hercules airplane and boats from the Naujaat search-and-rescue team. The boats weren’t able to reach the spot the hunters were believed to be when sea ice blocked the way.

A second Hercules as well as a helicopter-equipped icebreaker joined the search on Tuesday. The hunters were spotted from the helicopter and were flown to Naujaat on Tuesday morning.

The survivors weren’t badly injured, Hedley said. “They’re fine. They’re home.” The bear was shot and killed. Hedley said the hunters were armed at the time of the attack.

He said many of the details were still being pieced together.