Who would have thought that the largest land carnivore in the world would get so friendly with a few husky sled dogs? Polar bears are dependent on the ocean and all the marine animals in order to fend for themselves. They are gorgeous and, unfortunately, their habitat is in danger. Being very intelligent, they easily adapt in order to survive. This means they will also come and visit places where they find food.
But this bear also found some playmates. It’s all fun and games, but in the end, you’ll be shocked to do discover the real reason behind his behavior…
20. In Northern Canada, Polar Bears Are Friendly Too
imgur.com
Located in the sub-arctic wilderness in northern Canada, a man spotted a huge polar bear playing with a few husky sled dogs. At first, he was scared of what would happen to the dogs, but then he looked closer…
19. Great Photographs
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Nature photographer Norbert Rosing was in the right place at the right moment. He took pictures of the unlikely friends and sent them to National Geographic and many other magazines. They were also featured in books like ‘The World of the Polar Bear’!
18. What Happened?
imgur.com
In that book, Rosing tells the people the story of this weird encounter. It started outside Churchill, Manitoba, where dog breeder Brian Ladoon had 40 Canadian Eskimo sled dogs. They all met in 1992, and then Rosing discovered a large polar bear too!
17. Oh, Hello There!
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Brian’s dogs were chained and the polar bear was getting close. All of the dogs started going crazy as the polar bear approached, but one dog, called Hudson, was more patient. Here is what Rosing said…
16. Wagging His Tail
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Hudson ‘calmly stood his ground and began wagging his tail’. Both Rosing and Ladoon were surprised when the bear and the dog touched their noses and appeared to make friends. You won’t believe what happened after a while…
15. A Viral Footage
imgur.com
There’s also a video of these weird friends having fun and playing together. The bears look like they’re used to live near humans and they will also keep their distance. People also know that caution is needed around the largest carnivore in the world… but the dogs didn’t know that!
14. Every Day is Play Time
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The bears came every day to play with the dogs. And when the second bear appears, he rolls on his back and starts playing with the dogs as well. Rosing wrote that they played ‘like two roughhousing kids’. And it didn’t stop…
13. Ten Days in a Row
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The bear came back every day for ten days in a row to play with the dogs. That’s some serious attachment! When 99% of bears are aggressive towards dogs, this bear was a unique fella who would rather play than attack the dogs. But no one was ready for what was about to happen.
12. But It Was All a Ploy
imgur.com
Laury Brouzes, Canadian wildlife expert said that the polar bear was doing it to get some food from the dog’s owner. You won’t believe what happened later! Nonetheless, it shows us how polar bears adapt to get food in the weirdest ways.
11. Polar Bears Are Loners
channel.nationalgeographic.com
It’s a fact that polar bears are individualistic animals, and getting friends with dogs is very strange. But seeing these guys in a bear hug is ‘un-bear-ably’ cute! Sadly, something shocking was about to happen…
10. An Unusual Friendship
dailymail.co.uk
You’d never see dogs being so calm around bears. It’s quite unusual to see these images. However, we must still be cautious around bears, as they are still wild animals…
9. An Amazing Story
npr.org
Mother nature is amazing and sometimes animals act strangely. Whenever a hungry polar bear spots a dog, you know how bad it will end. But this time, it’s all about hugs and cuddles.
8. Getting Food For Free!
boredomtherapy.com
However, there’s a reason why the polar bears kept visiting Ladoon’s kennels. He was feeding the bears every time they came. And his acts were illegal and dangerous to both humans and animals. Here is the park warden’s statement…
7. Searching For Food
boredomtherapy.com
‘They can become used to people and used to vehicles and comfortable beside the road, comfortable on the road and thinking of the road as a potential food source’. And a simple act of feeding will make things even worse!
6. A Danger to Human Kind and to Animals
trendcentral.com
‘They become food-conditioned, the next thing they do is start wandering into campgrounds… breaking into people’s coolers and ripping open tents, posing an obvious danger to people,’ continued the warden’s statement. But Ladoon didn’t listen…
5. But Ladoon Didn’t Listen…
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Unfortunately for Ladoon’s dogs, the dog breeder kept feeding the wild polar bears and one day, a natural and horrible thing happened: a few dogs have been attacked and then eaten by the polar bear. How was it possible? What happened next shocked everyone!
4. Chained Dogs
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The dogs at the Mile 5 Dog Sanctuary were chained and couldn’t escape the polar bears. Ladoon admitted that he used to feed the polar bears, but one day he didn’t put any food out for the bears and they just ate the chained dogs…
3. Calling the Authorities
thoughtco.com
Conservation officers were called and they had to ‘immobilize a bear in that area […] and move it to the holding facility because it killed one of his dogs’, said a spokesperson to the CBC news. And that’s not all!
2. More Polar Bears Relocated
liveinternet.ru
‘A mother and cub were also removed because there were allegations the bears were being fed and the females’ behavior was becoming a concern’. It’s unfortunate that such a cute situation turned into a horror movie…
1. A Lesson Learned… The Tough Way
channel.nationalgeographic.com
Although it inspired a lot of people seeing an unlikely friendship, in the end, it was only a means of survival. The bears sort of played with their prey and took no interest in attacking and eating the dogs, because Ladoon fed them. But once he stopped doing that, the bears did the natural thing to survive.
Too bad for the chained up dogs that didn’t stand a chance…