'Wily' black bear that wouldn't leave Manitoba Hydro site trapped, airlifted away

Manitoba Hydro crews near Gillam, Man., are relieved after a black bear that had been wandering around the site for over a month was successfully relocated to a safer spot.

Wildlife officers live trapped and sedated the bear at the Keewatinohk Converter Station and airlifted it across the Nelson River on July 19.

The bear is believed to be two years old and had been hanging around the site — which is under construction — since June 13, said Hydro spokesperson Bruce Owen.

"This bear was reluctant to leave and was often found wandering the work areas and our lodge, where people are living," he said.

"The people up there became a little bit concerned that the bear was hanging around too much."

Owen said a decision was made early on to live trap the bear, but there was a small problem.

"The bear was, I guess, wily … to put it mildly," he said. "It took more than a month to actually trap the bear in a live trap."

Once the bear ended up in the trap, crews put it in a netted sling that was suspended from a helicopter, which airlifted it to the other side of the Nelson River.

Owen said the river is wide and fast-moving, and bears typically don't try to swim across it in the summer months.

The other side of the river has no development or people, so the bear would be safe to "go on to do what bears do," he added.

"It's a large work site; it's running 24 hours a day essentially," Owen said of the Keewatinohk site.

"There are a lot of people, a lot of people coming and going, too. There's a lot of ... heavy machinery, there's vehicles moving back and forth. So really … it's not bear habitat."