Posted on November, 04 2008

WWF polar bear experts are spending the next couple of weeks in the 'polar bear capital of the world', the town of Churchill, on the shores of Hudson Bay in Canada.

WWF Arctic Programme’s Polar Bear biologist, Geoff York, and WWF Canada biologist, Pete Ewins, will both be taking part in a programme organised by Polar Bears International (PBI), which involves trips out on the tundra in a fully-wired 'Tundra Buggy' that can take the experts out among the polar bears.

As the weather grows cooler along the shore of Canada’s Hudson Bay and snow begins to fall, polar bears move towards the coast in expectation of sea ice returning to the bay. Due to climate change, the bears have recently had to spend longer on shore, away from their prime food source.

However, the return of colder weather has perked up these bears. The males spar with one another in a form of play fighting. Male bears will spend hours sparring with one another until one is dominant or they both tire of playing. This play fighting helps males develop the skills they will need to survive and once mature, successfully breed in the spring.
 
The animals circle one another other cautiously, and if both animals are willing, these encounters often lead to physical contact. Polar bears can stand upright to an imposing height of more than 9 feet. Locked in a very real bear hug, each of these impressive animals struggles to overpower his challenger.

Scientists call this behavior sparring, and the opportunity to see this phenomenon up close draws hundreds of visitors each year to Hudson Bay, including scientists. This is among the best-studied population of polar bears in the world. The Western Hudson Bay population has declined by almost 24% in the last 20 years and this decline is directly linked to climate warming.

Currently, these bears have lost nearly five weeks of crucial hunting time as the sea ice melts earlier each year. If we do not take immediate and aggressive action to curb green house gas emissions and stop an Arctic meltdown, we may be the last generation to see sparring polar bears in Hudson Bay.