Two injured Inuit hunters huddled for three days with the body of their friend who was killed by a polar bear, while at least four other bears circled their camp.

More details are emerging about Nunavut's second polar bear death this summer, this one near the community of Naujaat.

The death has sparked widespread outrage among Inuit, many of whom feel their lives are being endangered by restrictions on polar bear hunting imposed on them by southerners.

Naujaat administrator Rob Hedley says the hunters were terrified and didn't sleep as they waited for search parties to locate them.

They were eventually spotted by a search helicopter from the Coast Guard icebreaker Louis St. Laurent in the early hours of Tuesday.

The two injured hunters suffered minor injuries and were treated and released.