Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Up close and personal with polar bears

Article in SMH about seeing polar bears up close on a buggy in Churchill, northern Manitoba, Canada.

"Churchill is a little town on the south-eastern shore of the Hudson Bay...

The bears like the Churchill area because this is exactly where the Hudson Bay freezes over first in the northern autumn and is the last to thaw in the springtime melt.

This means it offers the earliest opportunity for the bears to get out onto the ice to hunt for food in October-November. And, by remaining frozen until late spring, it is the last drop-off point for the bears coming back to land by mid-July ahead of their walking hibernation during the northern summer when they virtually fast..."

Tour operator: http://www.tundrabuggy.com/

Polar bears international: http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/

SMH article: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/polar-thrills/2007/01/08/1168104905933.html