| Polar
Bears of Churchill - Spring Hunting
Spring is a time of plenty
for Churchill’s polar bears. Ringed seals, the main diet
of polar bears, are giving birth on the sea ice in March and April.
Since the majority of ringed seals caught by polar bears are one
year old or less, this is as good a time as any to fatten up.
There are two main hunting
strategies employed by polar bears: still-hunting and stalking.
Still-hunting is by far the most common. The still-hunt amounts
to a big chess game out on the the ice. Seals use a number of
breathing holes, decreasing their chances of predation. The polar
bear simply stakes out a seal breathing hole, lies down beside
it, waits and hopes. The majority of still hunts last less than
an hour but, that being said, polar bears are known for their
patience and perseverance.
If a seal surfaces, the bear
will either grab it with its powerful jaws or kill it with a crushing
blow from its paw, dragging it from the water. Often, only the
skin and fat of the seal is devoured. Highly digestable and high
in fat and protein, it provides nutrition and hydration and is
the mainstay of the polar bear diet. The other technique is stalking.
With the warmer temperatures of spring, seals haul out near a
breathing hole and bask on the ice; periodically sleeping and
waking up to scan for threats then dozing off again. A polar bear
will attempt to time its approach with the seal’s sleep
patterns. As the bear makes its slow approach, it freezes periodically,
remaining motionless while the seal is awake. When the seal once
again closes its eyes, the approach begins again. Once the bear
is close enough, likely within 30 metres (100’), it makes
its final charge. If the seal cannot slip back through its breathing
hole in time, then that’s all, folks.
Occasionally, seal kills occur
during Churchill’s bear season. Seals sleep in the water
and may become stranded in the vast tidal zone along Cape Churchill.
Once locked in a tidal pool or trapped on a boulder, they have
to wait up to twelve hours for the water to return. This is a
might stressful and probably fatal.
After a kill has been made,
other bears will approach, nose in the air, jogging in a zig zag
pattern to hone in on the scent. Successful hunters usually try
to devour as much seal as quickly as possible but once more bears
have arrived, they may even share their meal, assuming the proper
etiquette has been shown . In the following days, the successful
hunter will continue to venture out to the tidal zone or patrol
the coast on a regular basis trying to repeat their feat; just
another example of their incredible learning capacity. |
