Churchill wants fewer polar bears shipped south

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This article was published 04/12/2017 (2897 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The town of Churchill is known as the polar bear capital of the world and it wants to keep more of them there.

The town’s mayor has told the province they don’t want captured bears automatically sent to Winnipeg anymore.

Churchill Mayor Mike Spence said the latest capture by provincial conservation officers of a pair of orphaned polar bear cubs, each about 11 months old and from different mothers, has him and townsfolk believing there has to be a better way of saving the animals.

“It has always been an issue here,” Spence said Sunday.

“Polar bears are a critical part of the community. But once you have taken them out of the population, that’s it. They’re gone. I’ve told the minister we want to sit down and talk.

“We want to get more research on polar bears. We need to do things differently. We can’t just continue to do nothing other than ship them off to zoos.”

Spence said the research could include putting tracking devices on cubs and bears to see where they go. It could also include creating a facility that would allow the bears to someday be reintroduced into the wild.

“We need to do something more than just saying, ‘Another bear gone to the zoo,’” he said.

“We don’t accept sending cubs to captivity is the answer.”

The bears are set to be sent to the Assiniboine Park Zoo’s Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre.

Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires said in a statement that based on the current research on polar bears, the scientists know what would likely happen to orphaned cubs left in the wild.

“The unfortunate reality is that young cubs have very little chance of survival without their mother,” Squires said.

“Without a female to protect them, cubs are highly vulnerable to natural predators and also to the significant risk of starvation. Polar bear cubs depend on their mothers until they are about 2 1/2 years of age, by which time they’ve grown and learned to hunt for their own food.

“Polar bears truly are irreplaceable and we consider them a jewel for the community of Churchill. For that reason, we will continue to devote resources to managing polar bears in the area and producing new research that supports their sustainability. While the Department of Sustainable Development is keenly focused on ensuring their survival, our government is committed to working collaboratively with the community to determine the future of these orphaned polar bears cubs.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca