RICHARD
11-10-2009, 10:49 AM
Teen trapped on floating ice - with polar bears
A Canadian teenager has been rescued after he got trapped on a floating piece of ice - with three polar bears.
The 17-year-old had been on a hunting trip with his uncle when he became stuck on the ice pan, reports the Daily Telegraph.
He shot one of the bears in self defence and was suffering from hypothermia when he was eventually rescued.
It happened after a snowmobile the teen and his 67-year-old uncle were riding broke down on Southampton Island in the northern part of Hudson Bay.
As they walked toward the tiny community of Coral Harbour - 11 miles away - to get help, they became separated. A large chunk of ice broke off, setting the teen adrift.
While the teenager was lost in the wilderness he encountered three polar bears, an adult and two older cubs, on the same large ice pan.
Ed Zebedee, director of the Government of Nunavut's protection services branch, said: "He did have to shoot the polar bear to protect himself.
"There were two other bears on the ice pan but they stayed away from him so he didn't shoot at them at all."
The uncle was picked up by searchers on snowmobiles and the teenager was spotted by a search plane later that day. It dropped him a container of chocolate bars.
The following day, two search-and-rescue technicians parachuted to a larger ice floe a short distance away to mount their successful rescue attempt.
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Why not throw the kid a picnic basket or a jar of HUNNY?:D
IT's too bad he had to kill one of the bears, I think I would have pooped had I been stuck with them!
A Canadian teenager has been rescued after he got trapped on a floating piece of ice - with three polar bears.
The 17-year-old had been on a hunting trip with his uncle when he became stuck on the ice pan, reports the Daily Telegraph.
He shot one of the bears in self defence and was suffering from hypothermia when he was eventually rescued.
It happened after a snowmobile the teen and his 67-year-old uncle were riding broke down on Southampton Island in the northern part of Hudson Bay.
As they walked toward the tiny community of Coral Harbour - 11 miles away - to get help, they became separated. A large chunk of ice broke off, setting the teen adrift.
While the teenager was lost in the wilderness he encountered three polar bears, an adult and two older cubs, on the same large ice pan.
Ed Zebedee, director of the Government of Nunavut's protection services branch, said: "He did have to shoot the polar bear to protect himself.
"There were two other bears on the ice pan but they stayed away from him so he didn't shoot at them at all."
The uncle was picked up by searchers on snowmobiles and the teenager was spotted by a search plane later that day. It dropped him a container of chocolate bars.
The following day, two search-and-rescue technicians parachuted to a larger ice floe a short distance away to mount their successful rescue attempt.
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Why not throw the kid a picnic basket or a jar of HUNNY?:D
IT's too bad he had to kill one of the bears, I think I would have pooped had I been stuck with them!