Nature & Environment

The Cute Dog-Petting Polar Bear Scene Seems Adorable; But Wait, It Is Not What You Think (Video)

Elaine Hannah
First Posted: Nov 29, 2016 03:40 AM EST

The footage below shows an adorable scene wherein a polar bear petting a chained dog in Churchill, Canada, a few weeks ago. But wait, it is not what you think. The thing is just a few hours after the footage was released -- that same polar bear ate another dog alive.

Brian Ladoon, a resident and runs the Mile 5 Dog Sanctuary in Churchill, was at rage. "That was the only day we didn't feed the f_ _king bears, the only night we didn't put anything out," said Ladoon. Actually, he regularly feeds the polar bears in the area to deter them from eating his dogs.

The spokesperson of Manitoba Sustainable Development told CBC News that conservation officers had to immobilize a bear in that area last week and move it to the holding facility because it killed one of his dogs. He also said that a mother and cub were also removed because there were allegations the bears were being fed and the females' behavior was becoming a concern.

Meanwhile, Ian Stirling, an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta and who worked for Environment Canada for over 40 years studying wildlife in the Arctic, expressed his views on the terrible incident. He said that Ladoon should not be allowed to keep his dogs chained up outside in polar bear territory. He further said that the bear that killed one of the sled dogs last week was probably "thin and hungry."

Feeding wild polar bears is illegal. Stirling said that any situation that brings bears into feed in a strange situation in association with human beings should not take place at all. He further explained that it is possible bears that learn to associate dogs and humans with food could get into trouble. He continued that if they encounter other remote northern communities while out on the Arctic sea ice, polar bears might try to enter them and get killed by locals out of safety concerns.

The Manitoba Endangered Species and Ecosystem Act states that no person shall destroy, injure, possess, disturb or interfere with an endangered species, a threatened species or an extirpated species that has been reintroduced. As of now, it is not clear if Ladoon will be fined for the practice.

On the other hand, the bears would likely suffer because as they were used to being fed, they could become harmful now that the officials have shown action to stop it. Stirling said it is basically a death sentence for the bears, according to Science Alert.

See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone

More on SCIENCEwr