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Nestling on the western
shores of Hudson Bay you will find Churchill, the self styled
"Polar Bear Capital of the World". It is the most accessible
and best equipped Polar Bear destination in Canada, and
visitors have been flocking to this frontier town since the
1970s to witness the largest gathering of Polar Bears anywhere
in the world.
The Churchill bears spend the winter months hunting for seals
out on the sea ice in Hudson Bay. They come ashore in June
during the ice break-up and disperse inland across a vast
tundra area to the south and east of Churchill. Unique amongst
Polar Bears, most excavate dens in the soft, peaty earth and
see out the summer in semi-hibernation, slowing their
metabolism and going without food for 5 months or more. In
October and November however, they congregate in large numbers
near the shoreline, waiting for the first sea ice to form so
they can again venture offshore in search of prey. |
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During this relatively short season (6-8 weeks) a fleet of large,
purpose built, wheeled Tundra Buggy vehicles take visitors out
onto the tundra around Cape Churchill to see the bears massing in
the staging area for this offshore migration. A number of factors
have made Churchill the most popular Polar Bear destination in the
world. The first is the reliability and sheer number of sightings,
but one of the things that makes a visit to Churchill so special
is the opportunity to observe interaction between these normally
solitary animals, for example males sparring.
For those visitors wanting to spend as much time as possible in
the company of the Polar Bears, for example photographers, a
popular choice is a stay at one of two tundra lodges on Cape
Churchill, right where the bears are massing. These are train-like
arrangements of wheeled lounge, restaurant, and sleeper cars that
are towed out onto the tundra in preparation for bear season. The
accommodation tends to be fairly basic, consisting of 2 sleeper
cars, each with 18-20 single bunk berths, with either privacy
curtains or proper partitions, and shared bathroom facilities, but
the unprecedented 24 hour access to the bears more than
compensates.
Another interesting accommodation option is a first class
wilderness lodge to the west of Churchill. Accessible only by
helicopter or ski-equipped bushplane, it is in an area frequented
by mothers with young cubs seeking to avoid the big males who tend
to congregate further to the east. Bears can often be observed in
close proximity to the lodge, and when there are no bears in the
immediate vicinity, the resident naturalist guides lead guided
hikes looking for bears and other Arctic wildlife. While bear
sightings aren't quite as predictable as they are at the tundra
lodges, the unique opportunity to explore the tundra and perhaps
see a Polar Bear on foot makes for a very memorable stay.
Churchill doesn't begin and end with Polar Bears though,
possessing as it does an extensive cast of characters including
the Red Fox, Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, Snowy Owl, Gyrfalcon, and
Willow Ptarmigan. It is also a place of great historical and
cultural interest having been at the centre of the fur trade in
the 18th and 19th centuries, and at the time of first European
contact 3 very different aboriginal groups co-existed here: the
Cree from the south, the Dene (Athapaskans), caribou hunters from
the sub-arctic barrenlands, and the Inuit from the far north , all
of whom are well represented in Churchill's present day
population. There have also been major archaeological finds in the
area from the Dorset and Thule cultures, the forbearers of the
Inuit and here is an excellent Eskimo Museum in the town, as well
as many places to buy native arts & crafts.
Read about Churchill in Summer
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