Platypus Man posted: " Today, 27 February, is International Polar Bear Day. Established by Polar Bears International, the day seeks to increase awareness of the plight of these iconic creatures and to raise funds to help with their conservation. The organisation was born in 19"
Today, 27 February, is International Polar Bear Day. Established by Polar Bears International, the day seeks to increase awareness of the plight of these iconic creatures and to raise funds to help with their conservation. The organisation was born in 1994, the brainchild of a group of wildlife enthusiasts who'd enjoyed great views of polar bears near Churchill in the far north of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Coincidentally, Churchill is also the place where Mrs P and I were thrilled by views of wild polar bears over a decade ago.
Churchill has been described as the Polar Bear Capital of the World. OK, it's true that the ones saying it mostly have a vested interest in that they sell wildlife viewing tours to people like me and Mrs P, but they've got a point. If you're determined to see a polar bear in the wild, the Churchill Wildlife Management Area is the place to go during "bear season," which lasts for a period of five to six weeks each year. Polar Bears are big business in Churchill!
The signage leaves you in no doubt what to expect - or at least hope for - on a trip to the Churchill Wildlife Management Area.
The little town of Churchill, which has a resident population of fewer than 900, lies on the shores of Hudson Bay. To put it politely the place is bloody remote, being more than 1,000 miles north of the provincial capital of Winnipeg. Churchill is inaccessible by road; to get there you must travel by air or rail.
Its primary source of income is tourism, with thousands of visitors making the journey north every year to view the polar bears (in October and November), beluga whales on the Churchill River (in June and July) and the Northern Lights throughout the winter months.
During bear season the occasional polar bear will make it past the security cordon and end up wandering through downtown. For this reason, residents are said to leave their doors and cars unlocked at all times in case someone urgently needs to retreat to a place of safety. But for guaranteed - and safe - sightings, tourists take trips outside town on tundra buggies. These are big, bespoke vehicles with huge tyres, vehicles specially designed to cope with the challenging terrain of the Wildlife Management Area.
Our buggy was remarkably comfortable, bordering on luxurious. The cabin was heated, had an onboard loo (for any North Americans reading this, that's a restroom!) and, most importantly of all, was totally bear proof.
To the rear of our tundra buggy was an open-air viewing platform, enabling great photographic opportunities without any windows to get in the way. The platform had a corrugated steel mesh floor through which we could watch bears as they passed beneath. One bear even stood on its hind legs to sniff curiously at the feet of the awe-struck passengers, with just a couple of inches / centimetres of perforated metal separating the two parties. That, my dear friends, is why there's onboard loo!
The person standing on the rear viewing platform gives an indication of the size of this tundra buggy.
The views we enjoyed of polar bears during our tundra buggy rides were truly extraordinary, particularly when two of the bears were sparring with one another. These were, without doubt, some of the best - and closest - wildlife encounters of my life. We also took a helicopter trip out over the Wildlife Management Area one day, and saw several bears from an entirely different angle. In addition, helicopter vision helped give us a better appreciation of the bleak terrain that the polar bears inhabit.
Yes, the four white blobs are indeed polar bears, all chilling out in a bleak tundra landscape!
There was a range of other wildlife to be seen, but polar bears were the undoubted stars of the show. It was an absolute privilege to see them, and hopefully - if we, as a species, can get climate change control - similar opportunities will be available to future generations of wildlife enthusiasts.
Some of the other wildlife that we saw on the tundra around Churchill. Clockwise from top left: Red Fox; Snowy Owl; Arctic Hare: Rock Ptarmigan
Polar bears are magnificent, iconic creatures, and to lose them would be a tragedy. All power to the good folk at Polar Bears International for fighting the good fight on their behalf. Here's wishing them, and anyone reading this, a wonderfully happy International Polar Bear Day.
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