Yukon conservation officers are looking into the discovery of a bear carcass found near Klukshu village in the Kluane area last month.

The carcass was found in the area renowned for its so-called “ice bears” – a population of grizzly bears that have acquired the peculiar habit of fishing for salmon late into the fall and early winter.

They’ve earned the moniker by the thick ice that forms on their fur as they fish in sub-zero temperatures as cold as -30 C as late as mid-December.

The bears are found in a few restricted locales of the Yukon.

There is some suspicion the dead animal could be the dominant male bear known locally as “The Mayor” of Klukshu.

The carcass was discovered by well-known Yukon photographer Peter Mather on Nov. 15 or 16, he told the Star Thursday afternoon.

Mather said he followed a flock of ravens during a visit to the area to take more photographs of the bears. He said he’s there most days working.

Such numbers of ravens often indicate there’s a large deceased creature nearby, he said, and he was curious to see what they were feeding on.

Mather said it didn’t take too long to locate the dead bear.

It was skinned and decapitated, and the claws were taken as well, which he said all indicate it had been hunted.

Scavengers were feeding on the remains left behind, Mather said.

His first impression, due to his familiarity with the “ice bears”, was that it could be “The Mayor”.

That particular bear is quite well-known in the area as the dominant male. It was quite tolerant of humans, and controlled all the fishing spots closest to the village.

“The Mayor” kept all of the other bears from coming too close to the village, effectively limiting human-bear interactions.

The identity of the bear is in some doubt, though. Mather said there was another bear, a young male, with a strong resemblance to “The Mayor”.

Regardless, the incident has upset the community, Mather said – and himself.

“I was just heart-broken,” he said. “It was an emotional hit to the heart.”

“The community is quite upset,” he added.

The Star reached out to Chuck Hume, an elder in the village with a strong knowledge of bears, without success.

Mather said there is generally no hunting allowed in the vicinity of the village, but he wasn’t certain of whether the restricted zone covered the exact spot where the carcass was found.

“It’s a tricky question,” Mather said.

It’s not the first time one of the ice bears was shot in recent years, Mather said.

He said it always seems to be the bears that are most tolerant of humans, with the most “charisma”, who wind up falling victim to a hunter.

He recollected another bear, in 2014, that liked to fish the Kluane River.

That bear had a habit of tossing the salmon it had caught on the shore of the river to freeze. It would then come back and gnaw on the frozen fish.

It was well-known in the area for that quirky habit, Mather said.

Eventually, it was shot by an unidentified hunter, he said.

As with the current investigation, the head, claws and hide were missing.

Late Thursday afternoon, Linea Volkering, a spokesperson for the Yukon Conservation Service, told the Star “conservation officers are aware of a grizzly bear carcass reported in the Klukshu area.

“The bear hide and skull were seized by conservation officers, and charges have been laid against an individual involved pending an up-
coming court date,” Volkering said.

“This matter is currently under investigation and no further details will be released at this time.”

That includes the name of the accused.

Anyone with additional information can contact the TIPP line at 1-800-661-0525 or online at https://Yukon.ca/TIPP.