Polar Bear that Attacked Canadian Evades Getting Euthanised, Relocated Instead at Winnipeg's Zoo
The polar bear that has attacked a Canadian man early this September has managed to evade getting euthanised. Instead it will be relocated to the International Polar Bear Conservation Centre at Winnipeg's zoo.
"It was determined that he was otherwise going to have to be euthanised because he was such a danger," Margaret Redmond, president of the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, said Saturday.
The polar bear early this month attacked Garett Kolsun, a 40-year-old Canadian Borders Services guard, while he was walking home one night in Churchill.
Mr Kolsun recounted the white bear cornered him on a porch, swiped in the face by its gigantic paw and bitten in the hip by the huge animal.
He was only able to wriggle free, thankfully still breathing and on his two feet, when he managed to distract the polar bear with the light from his cellphone. He was then able to run away from the animal to safety.
Video Source: Youtube/ TomoNews US
"When you're in Churchill, take a cab. Or drive. Don't walk after dark," was all Mr Kolsun were able to say after the horrifying attack.
Unknown to Mr Kolsun, who was found later to be new to Churchill in Hudson Bay, Manitoba has a sizable polar bear population and is known as "the polar bear capital of the world."
According to Ms Redmond, Gord Macintosh, Manitoba Conservation Minister, contacted her to ask if they can transfer the white bear, currently being kept in a polar bear jail, to the conservation centre.
"We said, 'Of course.' We'd do anything we could to prevent one of these magnificent animals from being destroyed," Ms Redmond said.
The Assiniboine Park Conservancy already has one resident polar bear, a two-year-old male named Hudson which came from Toronto. It was born in captivity at the zoo.
Ms Redmond clarified the two animals will not be housed together.
But "polar bears have an amazing sense of smell," Dr. Chris Enright, the zoo's head of veterinary services, told Winnipeg Free Press. "They'll know there's another bear in the area and they'll sort of shake hands that way, by smelling one another."
Video Source: Youtube/ AssiniboinePark
The four-hectare Assiniboine Park Zoo is scheduled to open June 2014. Of course, Hudson and the still unnamed latest polar bear addition will be among its residents.
Mr Kolsun reportedly supported the transfer of the polar bear that attacked him.
"He feels very good about this option and he sees that this is an opportunity for the animal, rather than having to be euthanized, to serve as an ambassador to his species in what will ultimately be a very large and comfortable area for the bear," Ms Redmond said.