Lucky tour guide snaps ‘video of a lifetime’ of a polar bear petting a Canadian Eskimo dog
IN one of the more adorable sights in recent memory, polar bear and a Canadian Eskimo dog appear to have become unlikely friends.
Tour guide David De Meulles told CBC in Canada that he had taken two tourists out with the hopes of seeing a polar bear up close when they came across the unlikely spectacle.
“I had no idea what was going to happen, and then sure enough he started petting that dog, acted like he was a friend,” he said.
“I just so happened to catch the video of a lifetime.”
Mr De Meulles said the unexpected event was a “beautiful sight to see”.
“I’ve known the bears to have somewhat friendly behaviour with dogs, but for a bear to pet like a human would pet a dog is just mind-blowing,” he said.
While it was the first time Mr De Meulles had seen such a sight, it isn’t entirely out of the ordinary for the dogs owner Brian Ladoon.
“How they do it, it’s not my will, it’s nature’s will,” Ladoon said.
The lifetime northerner has been raising a rare breed of Canadian sled dog for more than 40 years on his land, which he said the government gave him in 1969-70 to help rescue the rare breed.
“These (dogs) are like lions, these dogs. They’re primitive and fearless,” Ladoon said.
While Mr Ladoon is no longer shocked to see polar bears interact with his dogs, he didn’t expect the two species to strike up such a familiar relationship.
“It is all of course probably a random chance happening that evolved at an accelerated rate because of the number of bears that were there, and the age group was perfect,” he said
Originally published as Polar bear filmed petting pooch