Arviat teens chased by polar bear

An 18-year-old girl and her 15-year-old sister are safe after a polar bear chased them down the streets of Arviat, Nunavut, this week.

Rebecca Nariyak said she and her younger sister were walking from their home to their grandmother's house after school on Monday when the polar bear confronted them. The large animal took the pair by surprise, Nariyak said.

"That bear showed up in front of me and my sister and started to chase us," she told CBC News on Tuesday.

"The bear was running towards us. We didn't know what to do, so we ran as quick as we can to the nearest place."

The girls took shelter in the nearest house, and the bear was later shot and killed.

Monday's incident arose amid worries by residents in the central Nunavut hamlet about a high number of polar bears roaming their community.

Since the bears started coming into Arviat two weeks ago, residents started nightly bear patrols around the community.

They have been trying to scare the bears with bear bangers and other non-violent deterrents, but the visitors have keep coming back, scavenging in people's yards.

Some residents have even resorted to killing some of the visiting polar bears, even though Nunavut has allotted a quota of only eight polar bears to be hunted this season in the western Hudson Bay area, which includes Arviat.

With the bear shot on Monday, hunters have only three more bears they're allowed to kill before the quota is filled.

The Kivalliq Wildlife Board has said that in light of the reduced quota, polar bears should only be killed in emergency cases.