20-year-old harvests grizzly just outside Rankin Inlet

A 20-year-old man harvested a grizzly bear last week that had been spotted near the community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

Koby Connelly heard there was a grizzly roaming nearby on Friday. His first attempt to find it was unsuccessful, but then he heard it was at First Landing Lake so he headed out again. 

When he got to the area about five kilometres away from the community, Connelly said a handful of people in ATVs were chasing the bear already. But he ended up in the right place at the right time. Connelly downed the animal, and another hunter made the kill shot. 

"It was exciting," he told CBC News. 

Connelly brought the bear back to his family's garage where he skinned it. He said they'll use the hide for a rug, and the skull might end up on display on a shelf. 

Harry Towtongie, the mayor of Rankin Inlet, said the community hadn't expected the bear. "It didn't approach Rankin like [an] airplane landing at all," he said with a laugh, saying the animal had been skilled in its approach. 

Towtongie said forest fires and smoke in southern parts of the country might mean more grizzly bears end up forging north into the area. 

Lauren Harding, an assistant professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, published a paper last year based on encounters Kivalliq residents have had with grizzlies. It found that encounters were rare before the 1960s, but had become frequent after the 1990s.

"We suspect the population is increasing because they're thriving," she said in an interview. "Grizzly bears are generalists. So that means they adapt to different diets. That means that they're finding … enough food to expand into new areas with habitat changing."