The historic Chilkoot Trail will remain closed on the Canadian side until Sunday, Parks Canada said Wednesday afternoon in an information bulletin.

A necropsy on the black bear shot along the Chilkoot Trail was scheduled for today.

That will confirm whether it was the same bear that broke into a Park’s Canada patrol cabin at Lindeman City Monday afternoon and received a substantial food reward.

The bear was shot at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the vicinity of the patrol cabin, Elise Maltinsky, a Parks Canada communication officer, told the Star this morning.

Officials believe it was the bear that broke in.

The continuing closure is necessary to allow the scent of bear bait placed at two snare sites to dissipate, Parks Canada indicated in its bulletin.

Maltinsky said the bear was attracted to one of the snare sites in the vicinity of the cabin.

Yukon conservation officers were called in to assist, though the bear was shot by a Parks Canada officer from the bear management team, she said.

The 23 hikers who were at various locations on the Canadian side of the border were evacuated by helicopter and boat Monday evening and Tuesday.

The evacuation of the area was a matter of precaution, as the bear was deemed to be a risk because it had obtained a food reward, Parks Canada said.

It pointed out there have been issues in recent weeks with habituated and food conditioned bears along the South Klondike Highway.

It’s the first time the trail has been closed because of a bear issue, though the American side is still open.

Ben Hayes of the U.S. Parks Service explained this morning from Skagway the closure has affected 100 hikers

Of the 100, 72 choose to do the U.S. portion of the trail, 12 sought refunds of the $55.60 trail fee from Parks Canada and it’s unclear about the course of action taken by the other remaining 16, he explained.

“Everybody was very understanding,” Hayes said. “We have closed the Chilkoot Trail before because of flooding on the U.S. side, but only for a day at the most.

“This is the first time it has been closed because of a bear.”

Hayes said bear encounters along the trail are not uncommon, and hikers are required to take a bear awareness briefing at the Chilkoot Trail centre in Skagway before they begin their hike.

“It’s the first time since Parks Canada has been operating the trail since 1974 that they have a bear break into their cabin, and on the U.S. side, we have ever had a bear break into our cabin, he said.

“There has never been a bear incident of this nature in the modern history of the Chilkoot trail.”

Hayes said as far as he knows, hikers from Australia and the Czech Republic were the only ones outside of Canada and the U.S. who were affected.