When the polar bears are forced on to the mainland of Canada by the melting sea ice, they can be viewed at surprisingly close quarters, on foot, on the coast of Hudson Bay, while based at remote polar bear eco lodges. As Jolyon Attwooll discovered during a recent visit to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, this can be a mesmerizing experience.
Polar Bear Mom with Cubs
“And then, a veritable bear bonanza was under way. Where most of us could just see endless tidal flats, Butch saw polar bears – and lots of them. Inching nearer on the all-terrain vehicles, we cut the engines – and, impatient to get closer, I volunteered to follow Butch on foot, along with a Californian student photojournalist. After that exhilarating first encounter less than a football pitch away, we thought perhaps that the best was over. It wasn’t.”
“On the far side of a rough meadow, a sow nosed out into a clearing, with two young polar bear cubs in tow. Tentatively, she edged forward, sniffing the air, anxious to steer clear of several nearby boars. Making her way around the edge, she turned towards us, head raised. Perhaps it was a superfluous rustle – a gooseberry thorn or bug too far – but something spooked her. Breaking into a run, she veered toward the tree cover, her offspring gamboling behind. In one unforgettable movement, she reared onto her hind legs, her white body framed by a spruce behind as she surveyed the area for threats. Then she dropped back onto all-fours and moved swiftly away through a shield of trees, her infants still on her tail.”
The above excerpt is from the story Polar Bears in Canada: Trailing the world’s largest carnivore, which appeared in the Safari and Wildlife Holidays section of the Daily Telegraph in the UK.
Polar Bear Cub hugs Mom
Churchill Wild, owner of Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, has been the premier ecotourism outfitter in northern Manitoba for over 40 years. Our one-of-a-kind on-the-ground polar bear tours at remote polar bear eco lodges cannot be experienced anywhere else on the planet.
If you’re truly looking for an adventure holiday with polar bears, we offer the chance to fly in and get up close and personal with the world’s largest carnivore in their natural environment, while at the same time enjoying nature at its finest, fabulous company, cuisine from our award-winning cookbooks, and the comfort our remote polar bear ecolodge on the Hudson Bay Coast.
Up to 400 polar bears pass by the remote Nanuck Polar Bear Lodge in an average season, but what makes this gathering of polar bears bears so unique is the high concentration of mother bears and cubs. These are not habituated “Park bears” or hunted bears that run at the sight of humans.
These are pure, wild polar bears living the way they have lived since time began.
For more information on Churchill Wild’s remote polar bear lodges and polar bear ecotours please visit Churchill Wild or Nanuk Polar Bear Lodges, e-mail us at info@churchillwild.com or call Toll Free: 1 (866) 846-9453.
