LAMBERT ISLAND, Ont. - A hungry bear with a plastic jar stuck on its head has wildlife officials in northwestern Ontario scrambling to trap the elusive animal.

Concerns that it's the same bear spotted northeast of Thunder Bay two weeks ago, in the same predicament, has provincial Ministry of Natural Resources officers fearing for its health.

Dehydration is chief among their concerns.

"It may just be the condensation from his breath inside this container that he's surviving from," said Ross Johnston, a conservation officer with the ministry.

"We know he's weak, he looks very emaciated. He's obviously lost some weight."

The 30-kilogram bear, believed to be about a year old, has evaded ministry officers and provincial police, who have spent two days trying to catch or tranquilize it.

Officials have set a trap on Lambert Island, some 40 kilometres east of Thunder Bay, where Rob Paterson snapped a photo of the animal when it wandered onto the deck of his summer home on Tuesday.

Paterson said he's also tried to isolate the bear without success.

Local residents are feeling sorry for it and their first reaction is to help the animal, but they then realize it would not be a good idea to approach a bear, he said.

"We've made every attempt so far to try to corral him or trap him or dart him, but he's very elusive," Paterson said in a telephone interview.

The bear is in this predicament because someone didn't do a proper job of recycling the jar in the first place, he added.

"Animals get into trouble when we don't do things the way we should do them," he said.

"Sadly, we've put this animal in harm's way with not discarding recyclable materials properly."

Johnston said he thinks the bear may have found the jar at a dump near Nipigon, Ont., about 114 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

It's believed it's the same bear first spotted there two weeks ago.

Capturing the bear is difficult because the animal can still see movement from inside the opaque jar, and runs away from humans, Johnston said.

Officials need to get within 20 metres of the animal to shoot a tranquilizer dart safely.

In 2008, wildlife officials in Minnesota spent six days trying to capture a black bear with a jar stuck on its head.

They sparked outrage after killing the animal when it wandered into a nearby town.

Lambert Island's distance from Thunder Bay means the bear would have a long trek to make before getting close to town, Johnston said.

"(Shooting the bear) would be the absolute last option we would use," he said.

He said he's seen skunks struggle with jam jars stuck on their head, but this is the first time he's seen a bear with the same problem.

-- By Mary Gazze in Toronto