Lutselk'e man says he saw a grizzly bear near Yellowknife

A man from Lutselk'e, N.W.T., was trapping for beaver near Vee Lake just outside Yellowknife when he said he saw a grizzly bear, and its tracks in the snow.

Kyle Phillip Enzoe said he was driving his vehicle and paying attention to the icy roads last Thursday, when a friend who was with him alerted him to an animal moving beside the road. 

"I was like, 'Man … that's a bear,'" said Enzoe.

He sped up to get about 75 metres away from the bear to get a better look. Enzoe got close enough to see the bear and said it was in bad shape. It had little fat on its body, its ribs and hip bones showed, and it had patches of spring hair.  

He said he saw its claws, the tell-tale hump of a grizzly bear, and its teeth.

Enzoe said the animal measured roughly 4½ feet high to the front shoulder, and estimated it would have been eight feet standing up.

The two men stayed in the vehicle when they saw the bear.

"We just had an axe and no rifles, and some big beaver traps," Enzoe said.

"With the size it is, even if I brought a rifle, would it help me or just get the animal mad?"

Grizzlies can wander far

Enzoe, who is experienced on the land, posted a video of the tracks to the NWT Species Facebook group. 

He didn't initially report it to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, but he said he was concerned that another person would have a dangerous wildlife encounter. The Vee Lake area is well used by hikers and dog walkers.

"I could have said nothing at all … and then somebody else goes out there and finds this grizzly bear … and something bad happens," he said.

"I could not have that on my conscience, knowing that I could have did something but did not do anything."

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources says that although it's not typical for grizzlies to live in the Yellowknife area, there are cases in which an animal will leave its normal range. 

That usually happens when an animal leaves an area in search of more food, said department spokesperson Meagan Wohlberg. Grizzlies, like all bears, have a powerful sense of smell and can travel hundreds of kilometres in search of sustenance.

The department could only confirm the tracks belong to a bear, but could not confirm whether they were made by a grizzly. 

Wildlife officers attempted to find the bear, but couldn't find tracks because of recent snowfall. 

The department is asking anyone who has seen a bear in or near any N.W.T. community to report their sightings directly to the North Slave Regional Office at 867-767-9238 so that officers can attempt to locate the bear and issue a public safety notice, if needed. For wildlife emergencies, call 1-867-873-7181, 24 hours a day. 

If you do encounter a grizzly:

• Alert the bear of your presence, at a distance, and back away slowly. Scare it with noise if it approaches you.
• If you are close, back away slowly without startling the bear.
• If you are very close, stand your ground.
• If a bear charges, play dead, lay on your stomach to protect your vital organs and cross your fingers behind your neck. 
• If the bear treats you like prey, fight back.