Trick-or-treaters in Churchill, Manitoba, will be accompanied by revving engines of fire trucks and shining spotlights to ward off polar bears. A helicopter will circle overhead, while a crew armed with immobilizing darts will be stationed around town Sunday night, just in case polar bears get too close, reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Monday. Polar bears are regularly spotted in the community from early summer to the end of November, depending on the weather and ice condition, because Churchill — population 1,000 — is close to the world’s largest polar denning area. Churchill’s Halloween polar bear patrol has been a feature of the holiday for 20 years. Bears not deterred by the noise and the lights are corralled into a cell and kept for about a month, which conservation experts believe breaks the polar bears of their pattern of wandering into town. Last year, 151 bears filled the cages to capacity. © Copyright 2004 by United Press International

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