Officials believe bear found dead outside Yellowknife was dragged by dog leash

Officials with the N.W.T. Department of Environment and Natural Resources arelooking for those responsible for abandoning a dead bear on the side of the highway outside Yellowknife with a red dog leash wrapped around its neck.

In a Facebook post over the weekend, the department said it had been alerted to the bear on Oct. 18. Itwas found along Highway 3, wrapped in a tan-coloured canvas tarp about 12 kilometres outside the city.

According to department spokesperson JoslynOosenbrug, the bear had been too heavily scavenged by birds and other wildlife to tell whether it was male or female, but authorities believe it was juvenile.

"It appears the leash was used to drag the bear into the bush," she stated.

It's illegal to waste, destroy, or abandon wild animals, including black bears, in the Northwest Territories under the Wildlife Act.

The department is asking anybody with any information about the incident to contact its North Slave regional office at 867-767-9238 ext. 53258, or toll-free at 1-866-762-2437.