Polar bear that chased and bit man will get new home in a Winnipeg zoo

WINNIPEG – A polar bear that made headlines earlier this month after it chased and bit a man in northern Manitoba will get a new home in a Winnipeg zoo.

Margaret Redmond, president of the Assiniboine Park Conservancy, says the bear will be transported from Churchill to the International Polar Bear Conservation Centre within the next few weeks.

Redmond says the bruin will be the first polar bear from the wild to be housed at the facility, which was opened last year by the conservancy.

The bear chased Garett Kolsun while he was walking home late at night in Churchill earlier this month.

It cornered him on a porch and bit him until Kolsun says he managed to distract it with the light from his cellphone, which allowed him to flee to safety.

Redmond says provincial officials have spoken with Kolsun about the plans for the bear’s new home, and she says he is pleased that the animal won’t have to be euthanized.