Stuffed polar bear stolen in sub-zero heist
CANADIANS have been told to watch out for a giant stuffed polar bear after the 500lb object was stolen in a bizarre sub-zero heist.
The 12ft-tall bear, nicknamed Harry, was snatched from a holiday camp north of Edmonton when a cold snap hit the area in early January, sending temperatures plummeting towards -30C.
Lily Lake Resort’s usual 24-hour security patrols were cancelled amid the freezing conditions.
The object was reported stolen on Jan 22 and police have asked the public to be alert in case it appears for sale online, calling the incident “the Heist of the Big Polar Bear”.
Wanda Rowe, a resort worker who reported the incident, said she thought that thieves had cut the cables securing the bear and dragged it outside to a waiting vehicle. “It 100 per cent had to be planned,” she told the Globe and Mail newspaper.
A similar incident occurred on the premises last summer when two stuffed raccoons were stolen. Those items and the bear are thought to be worth about $35,000 (£20,500) in total. Referring to the theft of Harry, Ms Rowe said: “For us initially it was emotional, because it’s been here for so long. We also felt violated that someone could come in and just take this.”
Constable Kelsey Davidge, of Alberta’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said: “He was really an icon here, and it’s weird to walk by and not see him now. It feels like something is missing.”
She added that police were hopeful the polar bear would be noticed were it to appear for sale online or in the community. “That would stick out right away if you saw that anywhere, right?” Ms Davidge said.
Canada is home to around 16,000 polar bears, according to government figures, accounting for approximately two thirds of the global population.
Hunting the creatures, which mostly live in Arctic regions, is legal in the country’s northern territories.