A polar bear mother with her yearling cubs strolls in the wilds of Manitoba, Canada.
It’s hard for me to believe that this year is my 12th in Churchill, in Manitoba, Canada, for polar bear season. Because of the unique water currents, geography, and ice formation, polar bears pass through this northern town every year on their way to hunting ringed seals after a few months of fasting when Hudson Bay is ice-free. The majority of time, visitors spend the days observing polar bears in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area beginning 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) from town. But today we are moving out to Wapusk National Park and Cape Churchill, another 15.5 miles away. Tundra Buggy Adventures is granted permits exclusively by Parks Canada to travel into this remote tundra habitat.
This travel requires hitching up all the Tundra Buggy lodge trailers to individual buggies and hauling them through tidal flats, snow drifts, and around large boulders. It’s a slow process, but along the way great views of the tundra and polar bear habitat can be seen. We are now just two hours into the drive and have already seen a fabulous gyrfalcon, fox prints, and polar bears: several subadult bears, one particularly large male, and a mom with two yearling cubs. I was extremely happy to see yearling cubs, as over the past three years I had not seen any older cubs, just cubs of the year, aka COY. Not seeing older cubs was unusual and perhaps indicates that cubs are not surviving past their first year.
Tundra buggies make their way to Wapusk National Park.
This year we are also seeing the ice forming a bit earlier than it has in the last few years. We have seen many bears already head out to begin hunting. Over the past decade, this would be a normal occurrence, but in the last few years the ice has not been formed enough for bears to get out and hunt for the winter until December. It is also good news, since most of the polar bears in Hudson Bay lost their hunting ice in July. Scientists studying this population estimate that the ice is disappearing a full three weeks earlier than normal for this region. The aerial survey from last year to evaluate the population of the Western Hudson Bay resulted in an estimated 1,000 polar bears, consistent with surveys from a few years ago. Unfortunately, average litter sizes were the lowest recorded, and yearlings and COY were proportionately fewer. This is possibly due to not only the earlier ice loss but also the later ice formation giving females less time to hunt and to provide for offspring.
Our destination tonight will be Cape Churchill, which has a great history of polar bear observation for both scientist and bear enthusiast. Typically this is where the biggest males stay, biding their time sparring while waiting for the ice. This area, too, is where, once the males have moved on, moms with cubs make their last walk to the coast and out to the ice. The opportunities to study polar bears and their behavior are hard to match anywhere else in the world.
We should reach the Cape in another eight hours. It will have been a very long day of travel. The reward will be tomorrow when we wake up in perhaps one of the most inspiring lands of ice and bears. I think how unbelievably blessed I have been for 12 seasons to be able to be a part of this. I can’t bear to think that this may all be disappearing quickly. The colleagues I travel with inspire me with knowledge that we can make a difference, the guests sharing this adventure inspire me with knowing there are some really great folks who are willing to make changes in their lives now to save this area by lowering their greenhouse gas emissions, and most importantly, I am inspired by the incredible polar bears that survive and thrive in this ice world.
I am so happy to see a mom and her two yearling cubs. It is their future that we hold in our hands, as well as the future of our own children, so that they, too, may be blessed to witness this amazing animal in this inspiring world of ice.
JoAnne Simerson is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Polar Bears: Quiet Season.
Thank you JoAnne for giving us a look at what most of us will never get to “see” .
Such a once in a lifetime experience. Fingers crossed that next winter it will be Chinook with her nearly yearling cubs!
I think that this offsite polar bear cam is not live currently but it shows some recent highlights of polar bears in that area (sponsored by explore.org and Annenberg foundation):
http://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/polar-bear-cape-churchill-cam
also if you go to the following link and scroll below the video player, the first 4 rows of thumbnails link to video shot this year in the area described.
http://explore.org/#!/videos/player/polar-bears-sparring-11-11-2012
JoAnne, that is a coincidence b/c I saw your blog headline in the Polar Bears International news too. it looked awfully familiar. I did not make the connection b/t that article and the SDZoo JoAnne. how lucky to be able to see the bears hunting live. hope they get a bit fat, I did see one adult which looked a bit skinny.
perhaps the skinny bear was not an adult yet.
So amazing and love to hear more. I’ve been watching the Tundra cams and sad that they are done until next year, but so happy that the ice formed earlier than usual for the bears! They must be thrilled and very ready to fill those hungry tummies of theirs! Reading this in the dark…to keep down my footprint! Sending my love to the arctic and to our trio in SDZ!
Being a confirmed “bearoholic”, it was my seventh year. I didn’t see anything too special this year, and I didn’t see any females with cubs although others did. But what I did see was big, strong, healthy, fat, and playful male bears, compared to last year’s ragamuffins. Those bears looked like bones in fur coats. This year they looked like BEARS.
is chinook pregnant? any news or signs yet?
Moderator’s note: No news yet.
Joanne, Your colleagues may inspire you, as you inspire us to reduce our carbon footprints and do what we can to help Polar Bear conservation. Thank you..
Kalluk just gave a good object lesson to kids–smart bear !!
He picked up traffic cone from water, put it on ledge, then grabbed a small ball out of water & put it inside the cone, then left. Neat guy–putting away his toys.
yes carol, I saw that too. Was very impressed with him, he’s a smart bear. I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing him play with the black ball…using his large paws to throw it out of the water, on to the concrete and wait for it to bounce back to him in the water, then do it all over again. When the cams catch this it is awesome to see.
Do the keepers of these 3 bears ever get to be with the bears without any reinforcement between them, or would the wild side of the bears come out even though they know their keepers? Can the keepers be affectionate with them? I would give anything to be able to touch them. Today I got to see tatqiq just standing right next to kalluk, and wow! the difference in size is awesome. I’ve seen them spar, but kalluk is always sitting down for that. Happy to hear they have ice early so they can start to hunt.
Moderator’s note: There is always a barrier between bear and human, for everyone’s safety.
Just my two cents: I think the bears care about the relationship with the keepers and are careful to use good manners and express their respect. The problem is more that the bear doesn’t understand that the keeper is not a bear and is, therefore, much more fragile than another bear. We don’t have layers of fat and heavy fur to protect us from the world, nor do we have big powerful paws. Our “paws” operate a lot differently than theirs.
P.S….I’d love to see him doing that thoughtful thing again.
Would it, possibly, have been recorded ?
If anyone interested, I once recorded Kalluk practising/playing with a bone. He put it on the log again and again, and he reached for it from under the water until he could do it perfectly. Possibly he couldn’t even see it, so it was quite difficult. The spectator is Tatqiq. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovSEVulUKdY
That was enjoyable, thank you!
Thank you for posting this! It made me smile! It will be a couple of years before I get back to the SDZoo (live in Florida) and I really miss the bears – the video was lovely.
Great shot of the reindeer just now. Thanks.
looks like the polar bears got a visit from their distant relative, the black bear today. no, wait, that’s Kalluk. he had too much fun rolling in the dirt and the rain.
Thanks for the interesting post, JoAnne. I hope you’ll be sending additional pictures before you leave. Everybody can help to insure that polar bears will have a bright future.
Kalluk is a mess! Filthy paws.. specks of dirt on his head. He’s such a boy!
When the bears go in at 1pm, are they going in for lunch? Once in a while it looks like there are fish floating in the water for the bears to eat, am I mistaking that for leafs of lettuce? Just curious. thank you.
JoAnne responds: Yep, it’s lunch time! And no, it would not be fish floating in the pool, so yes, perhaps lettuce or pieces of palm.
Thanks JoAnne, appreciate the quick response.
thanks cam operator for showing Tatqiq and Kalluk drying themselves off this morning. I wonder if they went for a swim (thought they were afternoon swimmers) or if they received a bath. Kalluk seemed to enjoy drying off doing a snake-like dance on the stoney area. Tatqiq looked very relaxed, snacking on palm (I think it was palm with very narrow leaves) and doing the Kalluk pose (on one side with a hind leg partly in the air). makes for a restful Sun. morning.
Any updates on Ms. Chinook? How’s she acting? What does she do most days? Is she getting bigger? Nesting? Dying to know if we are going to have cubbies. Thanks!
Last hormone profile as of mid-November still looked promising for a late birth, meaning not November or early December. Don’t uncross those fingers yet! We’ll write a more thorough update soon!
Is that reindeer or elk I see frolicking in the rain behind the bears exhibit? How beautiful seeing them running around.
Moderator’s note: Reindeer.
There were two cubs born recently in Sapporo, Japan. Two were born a month ago and apparently doing fine in Nuenen, Belgium. Their mother is 10-year-old Frimas. She started out in Quebec by was traded a few years ago for a male bear called Jelle (Yellé). The proud daddy is Jelle’s brother Henk; they are two of Huggies’ triplets of 2006. Their sister, Ewa, is presently denned up in Sweden and no one knows how that will turn out.
There’s a video:
http://ullijseisbaeren.wordpress.com/zoo-nachrichten/europa-mit-dem-asiatischen-teil-russlands/nuenen-frimas-hat-zwillinge/
Never mind the German, I’ve translated the article into English.
Keeping my fingers crossed that Chinook will have a cubby or two. I have just learned this week that one of the females at my local zoo (Toronto) gave birth to 3 cubs last week but sadly none of them survived. I hope for better luck for Chinook – I love watching these beauties!
Moderator’s note: Yes, we were saddened to learn of your zoo’s loss.
Yes, Toronto Zoo isn’t lucky when it comes to polar bears. Last year there were three cubbies born, and their mom killed two of them
Very interesting, informative blog! Thank you!
Oh please….may we have some sort of news on Miss Chinook? Just so curious to see if she is expecting. Thank you for all you do for those wonderful creatures!
Is Chinook cooperating with ultrasounds? I haven’t been able to spot any bellies to see any shaved areas.
SO wonderful to see sweet Chinook this morning on the cam! I’ve missed her so. She’s looking very regal and happy sleeping on top of the dirt mound. Hope she’s cooking up some Chilluks in her big polar bear belly!
this afternoon I think Tatqiq was interacting with a keeper at the visitor’s metal grid. what was the keeper spoon feeding her? (may have been Kalluk or Chinook, hard for me to differentiate the bears from the back)
Moderator’s note: It could have been peanut butter, which is popular with many critters.
Good Morning from Wellington Kansas! I have a request….can you please pull the cam out so we can see the “polar crew” take care of the play area? Sometimes all I see is feet and I’m curious as to what the crew does to get those beautiful bears ready for the day. Thank you in advance!
Moderator’s note: The Polar Team prefers to work “off camera.”
Okay, tell them to not be shy…
They do good work! Thanks for the reply. Have a great and Blessed day!
I think they mostly collect garbage, put out treats, and clean the pool.
Its currently 9:18 am at the Zoo and Ms Chinook is really enjoying her play time. Its so cute to get to see her play because I always seem to miss her. But today not only do i get to see her (and what looks like a big belly – hopefully with baby) but i get to see her play and interact with toys. she is having the time of her life with everything that has been offered. she doesn’t leave one toy unattended. she has the plastic snow man, a black tube thing, a ball on a rope, and of course shes happily doing laps in the plunge. That part was so cute. she just flips onto her back and glides back to the window then does a flip underneath and comes back to start over. Training to be the next Michael Phelps i’m sure.
Well, i just wanna say that getting to watch this adorable bear has made my day. Always great to start your morning with a smile.
Good Morning San Diego! It’s 8:47am Kansas time and I was wondering, by the gate that the bears get treats by, there is something on the ground and it’s red & brown, what is that? Just curious. Thanks in advance for the answer. Have a great day!
Oops, I just found out what that was. Sorry.
I’m not breathing ha ha just praying for the San Diego zoo you guys are the best its are turn dont you think? Love to you all Merry Christmas Barbara from Phoenix
What a lovely scene! Sparkling water and one of the bears (Kalluk?) playing with a toy snowman in the water. He is having fun!! Merry Christmas to everyone at SDZ!
Someone please fix the Polar cam. It’s making me dizzy.
Hoping that Chinook will give us an after Christmas present being pregnant and having cubs in a few more weeks! That will keep us bear cub watchers happy!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE AT SDZ AND WAP!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
enjoying watching Tatqiq (or Chinook?) doing backstroke laps in the pool. merry Xmas all.
Looks like the Polar Bears have a pool cleaner in today. Guess they will need it for some more laps today after eating their carrots.
Thanks for the Special people who care for the Polar Bears. Merry Christmas.
Here is a very smart polar bear cub:
lightbox (dot) time.com/2012/12/19/time-picks-the-most-surprising-photos-of-2012/#57
Merry Christmas!
thanks for sharing. that is a classic photo.
Is that Chinook I see outside of the exhibit? Kalluk and tatqiq are wound up!
I guess that is Chinook. does she have the longest beard? looks like she climbed over the wire fencing behind the soil area. if she was there since early afternoon, maybe she likes the change of environment.
That was funny, Chinook was behind the exhibit, probably in her other section, but she kept poking her head up by the wall and Kalluk and Tatqiq saw her and were pacing back and forth and swinging their heads. She was playing peek-a-boo with them…LOL Then they went in for lunch…yum, yum.
thanks. I was wondering if Chinook was OK and if it was OK for her to be in that back area. I had never seen a polar bear back there. I was wondering if she would interact with the fox on the other side but did not see that.
Moderator’s note: That back area is nicknamed Polar Bear Park by the keepers and is used to give a bear quiet time or a change of scenery if needed.
thank you for the info about the Polar Bear Park.
Yes, i thank you as well.
Is she in labor?
Moderator’s note: Not that I know of.
Dying for an update on Ms. Chinook. Any news? Now that it’s nearing the end of December I’m guessing no cubbies? How is Ms. Chinook doing? Any changes? Is she ready to join Tatqiq and Kalluk?
Moderator’s note: The window of pregnancy for Chinook doesn’t close until the end of January. Keep the faith!
Thanks for the update!! I will re-cross my fingers and toes… definitely going to keep the faith!