Polar bear attacks and injures skier in Nunavut national park

A skier was evacuated to an emergency shelter before being transported by snowmobile to Pangnirtung’s health centre. The incident occurred early Thursday morning and the skier is receiving treatment, with no update on their condition.

AI Comment from Gemini 2.5 Pro:

This incident in Auyuittuq National Park adds to a concerning pattern of human-polar bear encounters reported across the Arctic. Previous LEO posts have documented other recent attacks in Nunavut, including a fatal attack on a logistics worker on Baffin Island and another fatal attack on a hunter near Naujaat (survivor's account here). Similar incidents have been reported in Wales, Alaska and Svalbard, Norway (another Svalbard attack here).> Observations shared on LEO suggest such encounters may be increasing as sea ice diminishes, forcing bears onto land more often (Svalbard example) and sometimes involving bears in poor health or exhibiting unusual behavior like wandering far south. These events underscore the importance of safety measures like the mandatory orientations and deterrents mentioned in this post, and highlight community efforts to reduce conflict through strategies like polar bear patrols and developing early warning systems.