Scarbrow has visited Dymond Lake Ecolodge for 16 of the past 17 years. Jianguo Xie photo.
On this International Polar Bear Day, we’re honouring a few bears who have left a lasting mark on us: Scarbrow, Tripod, Young Bob, and Warrior Pete.
Every encounter with a polar bear is something we never take for granted. Their lives unfold in a landscape that is as breathtaking as it is unforgiving. Survival here is never guaranteed.
Born blind, toothless, and weighing just one pound, polar bear cubs face staggering odds from their very first breath. Fabienne Jansen / ArcticWild.net photo.
Born blind, toothless, and weighing just one pound, polar bear cubs face staggering odds from their very first breath. On average, only about half survive their first year. Those that do have a reasonable chance of making it to their third, but the journey alongside their mother remains demanding every step of the way.
A cub’s survival hinges on everything: the mother’s health, her hunting prowess, her experience, and increasingly, forces beyond her control. Shrinking sea ice, shorter hunting seasons, and a changing Arctic are shifting the odds with each passing year.
When their mother pushes them away at two and a half to three years old, young polar bears must suddenly fend for themselves, mastering hunting techniques, navigating a social order dominated by larger males, and finding their footing in a world that offers no guarantees. Michael Poliza photo.
But when their mother pushes them away at two and a half to three years old, mortality spikes again. Young bears must suddenly fend for themselves, mastering hunting techniques, navigating a social order dominated by larger males, and finding their footing in a world that offers no guarantees.
The bears we have met along this wild Hudson Bay coastline have all lived that reality. Each one has written their story against that same unforgiving backdrop.
Scarbrow has shown up at Dymond Lake Ecolodge for 16 of the past 17 years. A bear that keeps coming back, year after year, tells you something about this place, and something about him. You look forward to seeing him. Guests love him, and when he shows up, it always feels like something worth celebrating.
Scarbrow at the window. He got his scar in a fight with a wolverine. Nolan Booth photo.
Then there is Tripod, who first appeared at Seal River Heritage Lodge in 2021 with part of her right hind leg missing, likely from a crush injury out on the shifting ice. Nobody expected her to survive. She not only survived, she thrived.
Tripod at Seal River Heritage Lodge in the fall of 2023. Steve Pressman photo.
Last summer she walked up to the lodge fence with a healthy cub at her side. On three legs, she had hunted through an Arctic winter, denned, given birth, and nursed her cub to health.
She is the Arctic in a single bear.
Tripod, who first appeared at Seal River Heritage Lodge in 2021 with part of her right hind leg missing, has not only survived, but thrived. And she has a cub now! Quent Plett photo.
Young Bob is a different kind of bear. He showed up at Seal River Heritage Lodge one morning over 12 years ago while guests were gathering in the backyard for a walkabout. He found the fence, started flossing it with his teeth, and proceeded to spend the better part of a half hour trying to figure out how to join the group photo.
Young Bob the polar bear posing with guests at Seal River Heritage Lodge in 2014. Bob Jenkins photo.
When the guests headed out through the gate, he followed along at his own pace, not in any hurry, just keeping them in sight. He even had a look through one of the lodge windows. Young Bob wasn’t looking for a meal. He was just curious. Out here, that stays with you too.
The most unforgettable polar bear of all was Warrior Pete. Jenny Loren photo.
The most unforgettable polar bear of all was Warrior Pete, thought to have been at least 20 years old when he made his final visit to Seal River Heritage Lodge. A missing ear, a skeletal frame that told the story of a bear that had once weighed over 1,000 pounds in his prime, and eyes that told you everything you needed to know about a life fully lived. In his final days, a younger bear left food for him and later lay down beside him in the snow outside the lodge. Nature can be kind to its warriors.
Scarbrow, Bob, and Tripod continue to roam this coastline, and somewhere out on the ice, so do the sons and daughters of Scarbrow and Warrior Pete, survival of the fittest written into the next generation.
Sons and daughters of Scarbrow and Warrior Pete now roam the Hudson Bay coastline. Survival of the fittest is written into their DNA. Christoph Jansen / ArcticWild.net photo.
Nothing creates understanding like being on the ground with polar bears in their natural habitat. Not statistics, not headlines, but presence. The moment a polar bear looks back at you across the snow, you carry something home that no photograph can fully hold. That experience, shared with the world, matters more than any statistic ever could.
On this day, we recognise both the hardship and the hope. We honour the bears who are still here, and we remember the ones who have left their marks on us…
Forever.
Sustainability at Churchill Wild
Oh I so love Scarbrow and honor him in my art. Thank you friend bear for being such an inspiration. xo your friend Rosemary