Day 1

On our first day we found that the conservation effort to protect humans and bears in Churchill is extreme. This program is called the Churchill Polar Bear Alert Program. The cost, time and energy put into this effort are significant. This unique effort has three main goals. Those are the safety of people, the safety of the bears and decreasing habituation of the bears to man. The program consists of hazing, trapping, holding the bears until freeze up, collection of scientific data of trapped bears, routine patrols of the community, community outreach, public relations and education.

In 2005 the Churchill dump was closed. Previously this had been a favorite place for the bears to spend time. In the year before closing 302 problem bears were reported. In 2008 the number of bears reported had decreased to 171. The decrease in just the cost of transporting problem bears out of Churchill went from $47,000 in 2004 to $22,000 in 2008.

We need to find ways to encourage the rest of the world to use this proactive approach to managing interactions between wildlife and people. Churchill’s efforts to live with the polar bears, not just eliminate them as nuisances, is a model that other polar bear communities should make every effort to emulate.

Below are pictures of the bear traps used to catch the bears that wander too close to town.