The grizzly bear is now regarded by most taxonomists as a variety of brown bear, "Ursus arctos horribilis". Clinton Hart Merriam, taxonomist of grizzly bears, described an animal killed in 1864 at Rendezvous Lake, Barren Grounds, Canada as "buffy whitish" with a golden brown muzzle. This is considered to be a natural hybrid between a grizzly bear and polar bear. On 16 April 2006, a polar bear of unusual appearance was shot by a sports hunter on Banks Island in the Northwest Territories. DNA testing released 11 May 2006, proved the kill was a grizzly×polar bear hybrid. This is thought to be the first recorded case of interbreeding in the wild. The bear was proven to have a polar mother and a grizzly father. The DNA testing also spared the hunter the C$1000 fine for killing a grizzly bear, as well as the risk of being imprisoned for up to a year. The hunter had bought a license to hunt polar bears; he did not have a license to hunt grizzly at that time.