Toronto  - A Canadian teenager was rescued Monday after being trapped on an ice floe in the Arctic Sea with a polar bear and her two cubs.

The 17-year-old had been out hunting with his uncle when they became separated Saturday and he was set adrift on a large chunk of ice.

Also trapped on the floe were the three bears. The teen, who was armed with a rifle, had to shoot the mother bear in self-defence, officials said.

He survived one day and one night on the ice with temperatures dropping as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius, before being picked up by a search helicopter, having drifted about 45 kilometres into the open sea.

He was taken to hospital to receive treatment for hypothermia and frostbite. (dpa)