 Rob Paterson snapped a photo of a black bear with its head stuck in a plastic jar on the deck of his family's home near Thunder Bay, Ont., on Tuesday. (ROB PATERSON/Special to QMI Agency)
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The search for a young bear seen wandering northwestern Ontario with a jar on its head ended Thursday when a canoeist discovered the jar on the shore of Lake Superior.
The canoeist found the jar with fur in it just before noon Thursday and alerted the Ministry of Natural Resources, a local conservation officer said. The jar was found about a kilometre from Lambert Island, where the bear had last been seen late Tuesday morning.
Ross Johnston, one of three conservation officers in the Thunder Bay area who was looking for the bear this week, said the jug had scratch marks on the side of it and was the same container seen in a photograph of the bear snapped Tuesday by a Lambert Island resident.
The bear, which Johnston estimates is 1 1⁄2 years old and weighs between 60 and 80 lbs., is believed to be the same bear spotted two weeks ago in Hurkett, Ont., a small rural community about 40 km east of where the bear was seen Tuesday.
The bear evaded wildlife officers who were out on Monday and Tuesday trying to track it down and tranquilize it in order to remove the jar, which was preventing the animal from eating and, more importantly, drinking water.
The discovery of the jar doesn't provide an answer about what happened to the bear.
“We'd like to think that he's pulled this off on his own and he's eating blueberries," Johnston said.
But there is another possible explanation – that the bear swam off Lambert Island and drowned when the jug filled up with water, Johnston said.
"Hopefully he doesn't wash up on shore," he said. "We'll just think the best. We may never know."
Lambert Island is located about 40 km east of Thunder Bay.
