Collision course: polar bears forced into people’s path by climate crisis
John Ussak was tending to his fishing nets outside the Arctic hamlet of Rankin Inlet when a friend warned a polar bear had been spotted in the area.
The next day, Ussak’s wife spotted the lone bear nearly a mile from their nets. Worried the bear was stalking a popular summer fishing spot, Ussak approached it and fired a volley of warning shots. But the predator seemed unfazed.
“It took 20 shots before it thought about leaving,” he said. “I’ve never seen that before.” Days later, in another part of Nunavut, two polar bears killed a radar technician in a rare attack in the territory.
The fatal encounter and sightings in unusual locations foreshadow what experts say is a looming clash between polar bears and northern communities as climate change upends the habitat and food sources of the apex predator.
