Massive wandering polar bear visits Labrador and Quebec during spring feeding tour

A polar bear is seen wandering in the southern Labrador community of Capstan Island on Thursday April 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO Colleen Cary **MANDATORY CREDIT**

ST. JOHN’S — Walter Bolger had to hit the brakes for an unusual roadblock in southern Labrador this week.

The 62-year-old seal harvester was driving with his wife in West Saint Modeste, N.L., on Thursday when a massive polar bear strolled casually across the road toward a clutch of houses.

Bolger says the bear then helped himself to a snack from a roadside garbage can, undeterred by panicked yells from the can’s elderly owner.

He says the bear is said to have swum ashore Wednesday, about 35 kilometres away in Red Bay, N.L., and on Friday, it was touring Blanc Sablon, in Quebec, near the province’s boundary with Labrador.

Bolger says the bear was likely out on the sea ice, feeding on seals, before it made its way to Labrador and Quebec.

Wildlife officials in Newfoundland and Labrador say polar bears sometimes come ashore at this time of year, and they’re asking residents to be on alert.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2025.

The Canadian Press