The locals in Churchill do their best to deter polar bears from wandering into town. Conservation officers patrol during the season and attempt to scare bears away from the Churchill township if they get too close. They use noise to scare them such as fire crackers and air horns and as a last resort set traps.
Once a bear is trapped, the conservation officers take them back to the polar bear holding facility, also known as polar bear jail. Here they stay until the end of the season when they are relocated. During their incarceration, the bears are not fed. Originally, the bears were fed, but this seemed to draw more bears to town, so the decision was made to follow nature and only give the bears water.
This was our guard at the the parking lot where we transferred from the tundra buggy to the bus.
These are the traps used to catch bears that come too close to town. Once the bear walks inside the trap, the door comes down behind it.
Hubby and I posing outside the polar bear jail. The public are not allowed inside to ensure as little contact with the bears as possible. They want the bears to remain wary of humans and stay away.
This is the mural painted on the side of the polar bear jail. Cool, isn’t it?
A final photo of a polar bear. This one stayed far away from the traps!
It’s good that they are relocated. Interesting info and loved the pictures.
Yes, they often have orphan bears and they’re sent to the zoo in Winnipeg. I believe they are interested in keeping the bears in Churchill and having a habitat for them. At least that’s what I heard.