Police in the western town of Oulainen had no other option but to shoot a bear that seemed unconcerned at the presence of people and tried to enter several private yards on Sunday afternoon.
The police were alerted in the afternoon when the bear first appeared in a private yard along the Hopeasaarentie road. With the help of dogs and by shooting in the air the police officers tried to chase the creature back into the nearby forest. In the first instance the bear did move further away from the private residences, and the officers decided to give it some space and left.
Soon, however, the police had to return to the scene as the bear was reported to have appeared in another private garden, this time on the Vaiekankaantie road. A couple of dozen of people had gathered in the yard to stare at the beast. The bear did not appear to be afraid of the people. Instead, it charged towards them.
From about a 15-metre distance, the police officers and the owner of the house fired shots at the bear, wounding it. The beast fled into the woods and met its end less than an hour later on an open field two kilometres away, where the police officers finally shot it dead.
