Polar bear shot to death in Nfld. coastal community

The RCMP have shot and killed a polar bear roaming in the community of Greenspond on Newfoundland's northeast coast this afternoon while children were being let out of school for the day..

According to police, the bear tried to get into the lighthouse on nearby Puffin Island, but was scared away by the lighthouse keeper.

Police said the polar bear then made its way to the shore and into Greenspond, covering 350 to 400 metres in only a few minutes.

Because students were being let out of school at the time, provincial wildlife officials gave permission to destroy the bear.

The RCMP then shot and killed it.

It is the most recent in a series of polar bear sightings in Newfoundland.

One was sighted in nearby Newtown, Bonavista Bay, over the weekend. Newtown is roughly 25 kilometres north of Greenspond. It's not clear whether the bear shot today was the same one sighted days ago.

Last week, bears came ashore on the Baie Verte Peninsula, near La Scie, and on the Northern Peninsula.

A wildlife officer shot one in Goose Cove, near St. Anthony, after it killed some livestock and tried to break into several homes.