| Polar
Bears of Churchill - Polar Bear Alert
Churchill is built on some prime polar bear real estate. Each year,
the bears’ natural northward progression leads many of them to and
through town! To manage this unique challenge, Churchill has its
own Polar Bear Alert program.
This program began in 1967, when the Manitoba Department of
Natural Resources decided to ‘study polar bear occurrences to
determine how many bears became problems annually’ and by
1969, the first polar bear patrol was put into action in the Churchill
area. Within a few years, the patrol started airlifting problem
bears, primarily with funds provided by the International Fund for
Animal Welfare. A variety of locations were tried with differing
degrees of success. Eventually, relocation to the North River
area, about 50 kilometres northwest of Churchill, proved to be the
most successful. Relocation, simply continued the bear’s natural
progression northward.
However, by the mid-1970s, the situation had changed
considerably. The Fort Churchill military base (near the present
day airport) and several other smaller coastal communities were
abandoned at that time. The reduced hunting pressures, both
traditional and illegal, combined with the removal of the Fort
Churchill dump, a definite bear attractant outside of town limits,
resulted in a drastic increase in polar bear activity within the
community of Churchill!
By 1976, 220 bear sightings were recorded in the Churchill area
(up from only 76 in 1967). As well, the 65 problem bears in
residential sites were the highest number on record.
As a result of concerns expressed by mayor and council at the
time, a local Churchill Polar Bear Committee, consisting of
Churchill residents, members of council and Provincial Wildlife
Branch representatives, was established. By 1977, this committee
submitted fourteen recommendations and urged the acquisition
of Building D-20 at Fort Churchill as a temporary holding place.
The facility, designed to hold up to 23 bears, opened in June 1980.
With over 1,000 bears handled, the Polar Bear Alert program has
worked very effectively at managing this human-bear overlap.
RETURN
TO POLAR BEARS OF CHURCHILL PAGE |
