The last bear to have been killed on Prince Edward Island was killed on 7 February 1927[1]. It was shot on the Souris Line Road by George and Bernard Leslie, who were 16 and 18 at the time, respectively.[1] The event was reported on as the headline for the Evening Patriot on 8 February 1927.
It had been reported in The Guardian, as early as 1862, that "bears are becoming very numerous and exceedingly troublesome east of Souris."[1]
In an interview with Bernard Leslie, Hornby reccords the following:
"We tracked that bear from 9 o'clock in the morning and it was one o'clock in the afternoon before we found him. We walked through the woods with no track, just followed the bear's track. Into bushes and thickets — you wouldn't know but you'd meet the bear in the thicket. And there was snow came that night, about three inches of snow. You'd have to crouch down to get through the thickets you know. And we walked and walked. At last we came to a place... and here was the bear. He was on a little hill, but we could see him breathing, we could see his body going up and down under the snow. He was sleeping, see. He'd camped there for the night and slept. He broke some boughs and made a little bed for himself. So Geordie [George] took the first shot with the ball [bearing] cartridge, and he's about 15 feet from him when he fired. The bear was lying on his right side and it got him through the left hip. And that ball came up through his hip and cut the jugular vein going out the side of his neck. That's what fixed the bear. The bear jumped up on his hind feet then, and snarled and roared and jumped a bit, and then he lay down, he fell down with weakness I guess. So Geordie took the gun from me and he stepped up closer with the buckshot. And the buckshot never went through the bugger's hide. But the ball reallywas the one that killed him."[1]
The carcass weighed over 400 pounds, and was skinned on the spot by the two boys. It was later boiled for its grease, and the grease was sent to England. For the grease they received $14.[1]