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In Canada, officials search for Harry, the taxidermy polar bear

ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:

The thermometer may read 22 degrees below zero, but apparently, it's never too cold for crime...

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NADWORNY: ...In this case, the caper of the purloined polar bear. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in northern Alberta are asking the public to keep an eye out for a taxidermy polar bear. He's white, black nose, has an open mouth, lots of teeth, claws, might be a little dusty. He was last seen at the Lily Lake Resort, standing 12 feet tall and weighing about 500 pounds - answers to the name of Harry.

He went missing last month during a cold snap when the resort closed down and sent its security patrols home because who's going to go out in -22 degrees? Thieves - bundled up thieves, that's who. They broke in, cut the cables securing Harry, dragged him across the second-floor balcony, then down the stairs and, finally, through the double front doors. Left behind - a cougar, some deer, a bison, a musk ox. Not left behind - a pair of raccoons. They were filched back in August. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Elissa Nadworny reports on all things college for NPR, following big stories like unprecedented enrollment declines, college affordability, the student debt crisis and workforce training. During the 2020-2021 academic year, she traveled to dozens of campuses to document what it was like to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. Her work has won several awards including a 2020 Gracie Award for a story about student parents in college, a 2018 James Beard Award for a story about the Chinese-American population in the Mississippi Delta and a 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in innovation.