Polar bear patrol - Mike Pederson

The job of patrolling for polar bears is not one that many New Zealanders would know about. But for Alaskan Mike Pederson, close encounters with the predators is just part of his day. Mike co-ordinates polar bear patrols in Alaska for the North Slope Borough. One of his team, Ruby Kaleak, had her own close encounter recently and it's been making headlines around the world. Armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and non-lethal firecracker slugs, the officer managed to chase off a polar bear that broke into an 81-year-old's house. And luckily, no-one was injured. Mike Pederson joins us to speak about the close call and about the life on the polar bear patrol.