Polar bear makes rare appearance on Quebec's Lower North Shore

James McKinnonwas out chopping wood on Wednesday, minding his own business.

The hunting and fishing guide, who lives in the remote village of Saint-Augustin on Quebec's Lower North Shore,had no idea he was about to experiencea once-in-a-decade moment.

"Some local guys said there was a polar bear on the island, only about a kilometre from the village," he told CBC's Breakaway.

• Canada's High Arctic seen as last refuge for polar bears as ice melts

The island is close to Saint-Augustin and the neighbouring Innu communityof Pakuashipi, and McKinnon said the bear was trying to get closer to the village.

Residents in the area wouldn't flinch if it was a black bear, McKinnon said.

"But [a] polar bear won't run away if he sees a human," he said."You're justanother piece of food."

The last time a polar bear was spotted in the area, a decade ago, it was found eating out of a dog's food bowl and had to be shot for fear it would harm the locals.

McKinnon said a few volunteers on snowmobile kept the bear away from the mainland until conservation officers arrived.

In one moment captured byPierre-AlexandreDefoy, a teacher inPakuashipi, the polar bear is seen basking in the sunlight before bearing its teeth.

"He wasn'tangry, he just yawned," Defoy said, adding that polar bear collapsed into a deep slumber five seconds later.

After a few days' sightseeing,bear heads north

According toQuebec'sMinistry ofForests, WildlifeandParks, the bear most likely ended up in the area aboard a ice floe from Labrador.

They got like a built-incompass. They know where's going better than any human knows.- Saint-Augustin resident James McKinnon

With global warming and melting ice, this phenomenon could happen more and more often, especially in spring, the ministry said

• The world hit its warmest in 2016 and it's getting hotter: study

The Ministry said it last received reports about polar bear sightings on the Lower North Shorein Vieux-Fort in 2012 and, before that, in Blanc-Sablon in 2005.

As of noon Friday, McKinnon said Saint-Augustin'spolar bear had headed away from town and had travelled about 15 kilometres, heading north.

"They got like a built-incompass. They know where's going better than any human knows."

Though the beardoesn't appear to have eaten since Wednesday, McKinnonsaid he wasn't worried for the "healthy bear," nor didhe think the bear still posed a danger to the community.

"There's no sense in shooting it if you don't have to, because it's a beautiful animal, so let him go back where he belongs at and let him go."