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I was able to get close to polar bears near Churchill, Manitoba. I was also able to retreat to a vehicle if the bear decided I was a threat or lunch! Ralph LaPlant Photo

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by bears. I can remember being a youngster and going to the Como Park Zoo in Saint Paul, Minnesota to see their polar bear. Later, on a family outing, we went to northern Minnesota and saw a black bear in the woods. As an adult, I have been fortunate to hunt black bear and to travel to observe and photograph polar bears. On recent trips to Alaska, I was able to see grizzly bears and hopefully the future holds another trip there to see Alaskan brown bears.
    This drive to see bears prompted me to make two trips to Churchill, Manitoba, which is located on the southwest shore of Hudson Bay. This gave me an excellent opportunity to study, observe, and photograph these magnificent animals in part of their natural environment.
    To fully understand and appreciate the polar bear, I feel we should compare it to the other three bears indigenous to North America. Let’s start with the black bear.
    The black bear is about 5-6 feet long, 2-3 feet tall at the shoulders and weighs, normally, up to a little over 475 pounds. Its range is throughout most of Canada and Alaska, down the western United States coast to mid-California, throughout the Rocky Mountain States, northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, up the lower Mississippi River regions, Florida, New England, and the Appalachian Mountain area.
    It is primarily nocturnal and is solitary, eating berries, nuts, insects and larvae, and as I’ve found out, in my back yard, garbage, and in my front yard, sunflower seeds in my bird feeder.
    The black bear has poor eyesight, moderate hearing, and a good sense of smell. It occasionally attacks young domestic animals, and raises havoc with some domestic crops and beehives where honey abounds. They very rarely attack man.
    The grizzly bear is 6-7 feet long, 3  feet tall at the shoulders, and weighs between 325 and 850 pounds. Its range is most of Alaska, the Yukon, western Northwest Territories, British Columbia, the western edge of Alberta, and down the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico. This bear prefers twilight, but can be on the move at any time. It eats grasses, berries, mice, and salmon that are running.
    The Alaskan brown bear is about 8 feet long, 4-4  feet tall at the shoulders, and weighs up to 1500 pounds. Its range is near the southern and southeastern coasts of Alaska. Being solitary, it is active both night and day. Its diet consists of grasses, berries, mice, and running salmon, like the grizzly. Again, unprovoked attacks against man are rare.
    Now the polar bear, Thalarctos maritimus, which means “Sea Bear.” Called “Nanook” by the Inuits (Eskimos), it is 6  - 7  feet long. At the shoulders, it is 3 - 4 feet tall. Weighing, on an average, 600 - 1100 pounds, there has been at least one weighing 2,000 pounds, standing ten feet tall. This makes the polar bear one of the largest, if not the largest, land carnivores on Earth.
    Ranging circumpolar, the closest range to the United States is, excluding northern Alaska, Hudson and James Bay of Canada. In this area, mating usually takes place on the ice packs in April and May between bears that are 3 - 4 years in age. When the ice flows melt and head southward, often in July, the bears will head towards land and continue inland for the short summer months.
    October and November finds the pregnant females building maternity dens in the snow. These dens have oval rooms up to 20 feet long and five feet high and wide. During this denning time, the mother is torpid, having a slightly reduced body temperature and breathing rate. This is not hibernation.
    Gestation lasts about eight months and being born in December and January, the cubs are hairless and about 10 inches long. They are weaned in June and stay with the mother for about a year-and-a-half, during which time she may have to protect them from adult males. After the year-and-a-half, they are deserted, often when the mother mates again.
    October and November is when the air has a cold snap. This triggers the bears to meet the pack ice and venture out onto it to hunt seal, as they have, for the most part, fasted during summer. In April and May, the migration process starts again.
    What makes Churchill unique is that, among other things, it has the largest denning areas in the world nearby, just 40 miles south of the area.  Another is that the town is on a point. The bear congregate at this point, waiting for the ice to support their weight, allowing them to venture out.
    These bears are marvels of adaptation. They can swim with only their noses and eyes exposed above the water line. This aids in sneaking up on seals. There is a third eyelid, allowing this animal to be protected in its harsh environment. It is a remarkable swimmer, having been seen 200 miles out at sea, without resting for 60 mile stretches, using its front paws, which are up to 12” in diameter, as paddles, to swim at a speed of up to six miles per hour. The polar bear has been called, by some, the greatest swimmer that walks on four legs.
    Running at unbelievable speeds for any animal, it can run its first mile in as fast as two minutes, and can outrun the fastest man. With keen vision and sense of smell, it can sense its food over 20 miles away, under ideal conditions. Underwater, it is believed to be able to see food up to 15 feet away.  
    The polar bear’s dense fur, which appears to be white in winter and yellowish-white in summer, is excellent camouflage for hunting seal on the ice and snow. This fur is fiber optic, transmitting sunlight to the skin, which is dark, for warmth.
    The fat of the polar bear is up to 4 inches thick, enabling it to withstand temperatures as low as 60 - 75 degrees below zero, with winds up to 40 miles-per-hour. It also gives the bears buoyancy.
    The paws of the polar bear, which, again, can be up to 12 inches in diameter, are covered with fur to ease walking on snow and ice. Its claws enable it to grasp food with ease, including 500-pound seals, which are often lunged at, on the ice, from a distance of 20 feet. Said to cover its black nose while hunting, no scientist has observed this behavior in polar bears.
    It is estimated that the world population is between 12,000 to 20,000, with most living in Canada. There are about 265 captive polar bears worldwide, in just under 100 institutions. Hunting is very limited, and as a point of interest, the liver of this animal has a deadly level of vitamin A. Natives, in Canada, can harvest up to 500 polar bears per year. In Alaska Natives can harvest, due to the Marine Mammal Act, up to 100 polar bears per year.
    Polar bears are dangerous and always unpredictable. In summer they eat very little. When they move out onto the ice, they are hungry. This is why taking the guided tours that allow people to observe this bear safely is strongly encouraged.
    The polar bear’s only enemy besides the white whale is man. In areas where man-animal conflicts occur, people are taught, when confronted by these bears, to attempt to place themselves downwind. If it is hissing or snorting, try to remain calm, playing dead. Resisting and running is futile. Lie face down with hands grasped behind your neck and your knees drawn up to your chest. Close your eyes and remain still. A backpack, if worn, might offer extra protection to an otherwise unprotected area of the body.
If you are interested in learning more on this magnificent animal, I encourage you to check out books on them at your local library and use the Internet. You can also join Polar Bears International. This organization, which can be contacted at P.O. Box 66142, Baton Rouge, LA 70896-6142, promotes, in part, protection of the animal, research, and polar bear-watching as an alternative to hunting them.