Celebrating International Polar Bear Day: Living among the polar bears.
February 27 is International Polar Bear Day, a day to bring awareness to the challenges these animals face as a response to climate change. Polar bears face many threats, including loss of sea ice due to climate change, hunting, and pollution. These threats have led to a decline in polar bear populations around the world.
Polar bears are found within the Article Circle in various Arctic archipelagos, including the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the Svalbard Archipelago in Norway, and the Russian Arctic Archipelagos. Polar bears will inhabit the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice, coastal areas, and surrounding waters. The sea ice is important for polar bears because they use it as a platform for hunting for seals, their main source of food.
Polar bears can be found near people in some regions, particularly in areas where human communities overlap with the natural habitat of polar bears. In a small town in Manitoba, Canada, called Churchill, people and polar bears coexist. Churchill, Manitoba, is located on the edge of the Hudson Bay at the junction of the boreal forest and the Arctic tundra. The Hudson Bay is one of the few places where the ice melts completely each year, which forces the polar bears in this area to come ashore during the summer.
When the temperature drops in late September, and the ice begins to form, the bears will begin to assemble on the shores in anticipation of beginning hunting again. The town of Churchill has built an entire tourism industry out of these waiting bears. From October to November, tourists from all over the world travel to Churchill to see the bears in their natural habitat. Churchill has been named “Polar Bear Capital of the World” because of the visibility of bears during this time and celebrates International Polar Bear Day most of all.
While polar bears may be trying to conserve their energy during this time, they are extremely hungry and will venture into town looking for something to eat, which can be dangerous for the people living there. Churchill is the only Arctic community with a polar bear safety plan.
Community members know to notify the Polar Bear Alert Program if they see a bear in or around the core Churchill area. The staff will use aversive conditioning by using noisemakers to startle the bears and encourage them to move toward the sea. Moreover, community members are told to leave their houses and car doors unlocked so that if someone is in close contact with a bear while outside, they can find safety easily.
If the bears continue coming back to the town, the bears will be put in the Polar Bear Holding Facility, where they will stay for a while and then be relocated far away from the town or released directly on the Hudson Bay once the ice has formed. This helps prevent the polar bears from learning behaviour that makes them problem bears in the future. Because of their efforts, there haven’t been any attacks on humans since 2013. The efforts of the entire community allow for living among the polar bears in a safe manner.
There are many ways you can celebrate International Polar Bear Day, not only today but every day. Some examples include:
- Learn more about polar bears and what you can do to protect their future.
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by adjusting your thermostat, choosing green transportation, reducing waste, and supporting local producers.
- Become a polar bear ambassador by talking about climate change, getting involved in your community, and voting with the environment in mind.
- Celebrate International Polar Bear Day.
- Watch a polar bear documentary.
- Encourage change in your community.
- Donate to foundations like WWF or Polar Bears International that are dedicated to fighting climate change.
Every effort, like International Polar Bear Day, is one step towards protecting the polar bears and allowing Churchill, Manitoba, to continue to be the polar bear capital of the world.
