As temperatures in western Canada recently plunged to -30C (-22F), most residents retreated indoors to wait out the blistering cold snap. But one group of thieves saw opportunity.
On one of the coldest nights of the winter, they gained access to a hotel north of Edmonton, where security patrols had been cancelled because of the weather.
The thieves severed steel cables before dragging their prize down a flight of stairs and out the front door: the 500lb stuffed polar bear they stole has not been seen since.
The Royal Canadian Mounted police say the brazen heist was reported by staff at the Lily Lake Resort on 22 January. The resort, near the town of Legal, Alberta, is 30 miles north of Edmonton.
“It had to be planned,” Wanda Rowe, director of the Lionsheart Wholeness Centre, told the Globe and Mail. “It 100% had to be planned.”
Police say the resort has security on site full-time, but no video surveillance.
Constable Kelsey Davidge told reporters the resort saw similar thefts last August, when a pair of stuffed raccoons were stolen. Together, the three animals are worth C$35,000 (US$26,000). A stuffed bison, muskox and cougar were seemingly passed over when the thieves made a grab for the towering bear, reportedly known as Harry.
Police have asked residents to watch for any attempts to sell the bear online. Currently, an “extra-large” mounted polar bear – similar in size to the stolen ursine – can be purchased for nearly C$30,000
Harry’s forced disappearance places the bear on a growing list of bizarre heists in the country: in 2019, thieves made off with 30,000 litres of iceberg water in the province of Newfoundland. And in 2014, criminal masterminds memorably pilfered millions of dollars’ worth of maple syrup from a “global strategic reserve” in the province of Quebec.
