unusual event
Polar bear seen in southern Canada
Polar bear seen in Madeleine-Center, Canada
© 2022 AFP / AFP
A polar bear has been sighted far beyond its range in southern Canada. The residents could not believe their eyes.
According to reports from officials and eyewitnesses, the polar bear appeared on Saturday morning in the small village of Madeleine-Center near the St. Lawrence River. “Our dog barks and I hear my husband yelling, ‘There’s a bear! There’s a bear!’ Sophie Bonneville, of a 2,000-dwelling village 800 kilometers northeast of Montreal, said.
Quebec police urged caution. Madeleine-Center residents must stay indoors and not go outside.
Bonneville said that at first people thought she was joking. However, she was able to take several proof photographs of the animal before it disappeared into the wild. “No one here has ever seen anything like it. How can a bear cross the pack ice in a river, swim across it, and get here?” Otherwise, polar bears will not be able to be seen on the other side of the St. Lawrence River. It could be a result of climate change, she speculated.
Polar bears are at risk of extinction due to climate change
According to a 2020 study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, climate change could cause polar bears to become nearly extinct as their natural habitat – pack ice – continues to melt.
