When polar bears wait…

Young polar bear waiting in the willows at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Steve Schellenberg photo.

by Steve Schellenberg, Churchill Wild Guide

We’ve watched our snow disappear at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge over the past week and while that’s certainly not good news for the polar bears, it has resulted in numerous bears around the Lodge.

Temperatures were as high as 7 degrees Celsius for two days in a row and our nice firm ground and snow cover turned to a melt of mud and bits of ice. When we’re out walking, the need to keep our boots from being left behind has led us to the remaining patches of snow and tufts of grass. The bears have also done their best to stay on the remaining sections of snow.

Mostly we’ve found bears hiding (sleeping) in the willows or making their rounds of the Lodge sniffing the magical smells that continue to waft out of the galley. Every day someone mentions that we humans are in the zoo here and that the bears have come to observe us. This has been an accurate statement, as several bears have decided to watch our every move once we are within the safe confines of our fenced-in compound. 

Friends in the fog at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Steve Schellenberg photo.

Numerous larger males have started congregating and enjoying each other’s company and several appear to be the best of friends. We all have our fingers crossed that these giants of the bear family will start sparring as the temperatures start to drop again.

Until then, we’re thrilled that we have so many bears around on a regular basis.