A polar bear was seen this Saturday, April 30 in a region of Quebec located south of the St. Lawrence River. An apparition that forced wildlife officers and police to alert residents of a small village to this highly unusual visit.
The animal with white fur, a symbol of global warming, was seen in the morning in Madeleine-Centre in Gaspésie, according to witnesses, and was free in the afternoon while wildlife officers, charged with Wildlife Management and Protection Canada, were trying to locate him.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ, provincial police) notably warned residents on Twitter: “A polar bear was seen in the Madeleine-Centre sector, near the old airport. The police secure the scene. We ask residents to stay indoors and not venture outside.”
#OngoingEvent | A polar bear was seen in the Madeleine-Centre area, near the old airport. The police secure the scene. We ask residents to stay sheltered and not venture outside. Officers of @MFFP_Quebec are on their way.
– SQ East (@Surete_Est) April 30, 2022
Astonished by the presence of the arctic predator in her yard, the witness indicated that “no one has ever seen this, even the wildlife officers or the police. People thought it was a joke”.
“It is very unusual to see such a northern species find itself so far from its southern limit of distribution”, reacted to AFP the biologist and researcher in marine ecology Lyne Morissette, specifying that “the current climatic disturbances are there for Something”.
In Canada, the polar bear – the largest land carnivore on the planet – is a species of special concern. A 2020 study published in Nature Climate Change revealed that global warming could lead to the virtual extinction of this emblematic animal since the ice floe, its habitat, is gradually disappearing.