Grolar or pizzly? Experts say rare grizzly-polar bear hybrid shot in Nunavut

UPDATE:DNA analysis has sinceconfirmedbear was not, in fact, a polar-grizzly mix. It wasa blond grizzly.

An odd-looking bear shot last weekby ahunter inNunavut hasturned out to be a grizzly-polar bear hybrid a rare findthat a researcher says is becoming more common.

Hunter Didji Ishalook, 25, spotted the animalon top of a hill near his home communityof Arviat,about 260 kilometres north of Churchill, Man. From a distance he thought it was either an Arctic fox or a small polar bear.

Up close it was shaped more like a grizzly, but itscolour waslikea polarbear.

"It turned out to be a grizzly half-breed," Ishalook said.

"It looks like a polar bearbut...it's got brown paws and big claws like a grizzly. And the shape of a grizzly head."

Not an albino grizzly bear

DaveGarshelis, aresearch scientistfrom the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and one of the world's foremost bear experts, agrees with Ishalook. He believesthe bear is a grizzly-polar bear hybrid, and not an albino grizzly bear.

"An albino bear would have a light-coloured or pink-coloured nose, and no pigmentation in the eyes and the claws," Garshelis said.

"This bear has a black nose, and normal dark-coloured eyes and claws. So, it's not an albino."

Grashelis said polar bears and grizzly bears have similar geneticsand have a history of interbreeding. He believes that interbreeding is happening more frequently due to climate change.

"With climate change, grizzly bears are moving further north, so there is more overlap between grizzly bears and polar bears in terms of their range," Garshelis said.

"There are even American black bears that are moving further north. And a few black bears have been spotted outside of Arviat."

Grashelis saida hybrid bear isunofficially called a grolar bearif the sire is a grizzly bearand apizzly bearif the sire is a polar bear.A third potential name is nanurlak aword combining the Inuit-language words for polar bear and grizzly,nanuk and aklak.

Inuit traditionally hunt polar bears for their meat and fur. The polar bear hunt in western Hudson Bay is closely managed, with24tags issued each year.

As for Ishalook, he plans to keep the hide of thebearand display it in his home.

"I am going to send it out to taxidermist and make it into a rug or a wall-mount."

Hunters in northern Canadahave reported atleast three of the hybrid bears since 2006.