Category Archives: Polar Bear Alert

Polar Bear Blog – Green Dots, Sunny Days and Dark Clouds

Posted on March 7, 2013 by munck
dog-sled-port

A bit of a round-up today… CITES Listing Upgrade Voted Down – The polar bear will not be upgraded to Appendix 1 Listing… in the end, the European Union ended up abstaining from the vote and without them, there is no real option to get the 2/3 votes needed to change the status. What was interesting (and I did miss this one…) was that the European block actually suggested a compromise. Basically, the Inuit quota … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Arctic, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear Alert, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Polar Bear Blog – State of the Western Hudson Bay Polar Bears

Posted on February 27, 2013 by munck
mom-and-cubs

Well, its International Polar Bear Day whatever that means… there’s some NGOs promoting eco-solutions and that’s good, personally I prefer the ‘Stink For The Bears’ campaign that asks everyone not to shower (I’m way ahead of the curve on that one!) Its also ‘Pink T-Shirt’ day as in Anti-Bullying Day which is a worthy cause as well. Anyway, for International Polar Bear Day… I thought I would do a little ‘State of the Polar Bears … Continue reading →

Posted in Bear Season, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear Alert, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill, Tundra Buggy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Polar Bear Blog – Killer: the Story of a Bear

Posted on February 23, 2013 by munck
ray-2007

Well, usually I stick with written email replies with journalists but I made en exception this week with Margaret Wente of the Globe and Mail. Her article came out today and, well, in the media, things get condensed and sometimes the message gets a little garbled. Anyway, it was a pretty good skype chat about Churchill and bears, Zac Unger, Derocher and all that cast of characters. But, my entire point was that if things … Continue reading →

Posted in Bear Season, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear Alert, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill, Tundra Buggy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Polar Bear Blog – The Complicated World of CITES

Posted on February 18, 2013 by munck
Walking-on-Ice

We are entering the final stretch of the battle to list the polar bear among one of the world’s most endangered species. The polar bear was ‘upgraded’ to threatened in 2008. Based on, the justification that ‘a suspected population reduction of >30% within three generations (45 years) due to decline in area of occupancy, extent of occurrence and habitat quality.’ The United States has again (they first tried in 2010) put forward a motion to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bear Season, Canadian Arctic, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear Alert, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Polar Bear Blog – Never Look Zac Unger In The Eye

Posted on February 10, 2013 by munck
Polar Bear Alley

Well, I finally finished reading Zac Unger’s new book ‘Never Look a Polar Bear in the Eye’. Its a decent read, pretty good for someone’s first trip to the north… ‘Google Play’ is a terrible e-reader though. Anyway, I was just thinking about when Zac came up to Churchill in 2006 or 07… or maybe 05. It was one of those years when I had imploded my personal life and was flailing headlong through bear … Continue reading →

Posted in Bear Season, Camp Nanuq, Canadian Arctic, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear Alert, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill, Tundra Buggy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Polar Bear Blog – Let’s Feed The Bears (Some More)

Posted on February 5, 2013 by munck
Brian-bear-landscape

So, I have seen this idea come up here and there… most recently, it started with Robert Buchanan from Polar Bears International and now with one of his researchers, Andrew Derocher. The idea is to feed polar bears (specifically Churchill’s bears) while they are on land to help offset the decline in sea ice. Offhand it seems insane; after you have lived in the north for a while, insane seems intriguing. Incidentally, this idea first … Continue reading →

Posted in Bear Season, Canadian Arctic, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear Alert, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill, Tundra Buggy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Polar Bear Blog – Polar Bear Iconics

Posted on January 20, 2013 by munck

Well, I just read a post by Gord Buchanan from BBC’s Polar Bear Family and Me… it seems after Polar Bears International’s scathing review maybe he is working to show his love for bears. I mean I believe it is genuine, because everyone genuinely wants the best for bears even if they are diametrically opposed as to how to achieve it… but still… Anyway, after semi-defending Buchanan last week, I might cut this one up … Continue reading →

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Polar Bear Blog – Polar Bear Family and Me and My Review

Posted on January 15, 2013 by munck

Well, I got a few emails yesterday about the footage of ‘Polar Bear Family & Me’ and Polar Bear International’s response to it – specifically the blog post by Polar Bear researchers Steven Amstrup, Ian Stirling and Andrew Derocher. I read the blog response and then, naturally, searched youtube for a pirated version of the BBC2 documentary and watched that. Let’s start with the most important part… their ‘fixer’ or location guide: Jason Roberts. From … Continue reading →

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