Hungry polar bear airlifted away from Newfoundland village by helicopter
ST. BRENDAN’S, N.L. — Residents of a village in northeastern Newfoundland say they were shaken when a polar bear wandered close to their community, but wildlife officers were quick to tranquilize the big animal and cart it off using a sling under a helicopter.
Dennis Broderick says he left his home in St. Brendan’s to shovel snow when he spotted the wayward bear, which ran off to eat a seal on the sea ice near his property.
“He just took the seal and ate it, just like someone was eating cookies,” Mayor Veronica Broomfield said in an interview Thursday.
Such sightings are common at this time of year along the coast of northeastern Newfoundland, where the large predators follow seals headed south on ice floes.