Mother bear killed, 2 cubs captured after entering northern Ontario restaurant

Provincial police killed a female black bear on Wednesday, after the sow and her two cubs entered the Station Two restaurant at lunch time in Terrace Bay, about 220 kilometres east of Thunder Bay, Ont.

Police were called to the restaurant at about 12:30 p.m. ET after the bears entered a rear door and started to cause some trouble in the kitchen, said Const. Mitch Brennan.

"The employees of the restaurant had discovered the bear in the back room. They were able to close the door that led to the customer area and safely evacuate the customers, actually before police had even arrived," he said, adding the bears had no contact with people.

The mother bear was shot by police, but the cubs were trapped by Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry bear technicians to be taken to a bear sanctuary, said Brennan.

Anyone wishing to report a nuisance bear is reminded to call the Ministry of Natural Resources Nuisance Bear hotline at 1-866-514-2327.

For issues of public safety, people are asked to contact Ontario Provincial Police at 1-888-310-1122.