MEDIA RELEASE PR35744
Summer Sea Ice Good News for Hudson Bay Polar Bears
CHURCHILL, Manitoba, Canada, Aug. 18 /CNW-AsiaNet/ --
Scientists have confirmed what a Tundra Buggy(R) business in Churchill is
witnessing: that due to colder-than-usual subarctic weather this year, healthier
polar bears are being spotted along the west Hudson Bay coast.
"We are going to have a great opportunity this autumn to fulfill our
Tundra Buggy Adventure guests' expectations of snow, ice and healthy polar
bears," says John Gunter, General Manager of Frontiers North Adventures in
Churchill. "The last couple weeks, as polar bears have been making their way
from ice to land for the summer, we've seen from our Tundra Buggies numerous
big, healthy polar bears in Manitoba Conservation's Churchill Wildlife
Management Area, east of Churchill."
"This year there is more ice on average," explains Dr. David Barber, a
Canada Research Chair in Arctic System Science and the director of the Centre
for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba. "Hudson Bay in
particular has seen a very cold winter and essentially a late spring."
"What we're seeing this year is an aberration compared to the long-term
trend," stresses Polar Bears International President, Robert Buchanan, who has
been working with polar bears for nearly 20 years, "but essentially the late
break-up of ice this year on Hudson Bay means the polar bears, which rely on
sea ice to live, have been given more time during spring and summer to hunt
and eat seals, and this has allowed them to gain important weight to live off
of until freeze-up.
"Frontiers North Adventures is known as an international leader in
Canada's sustainable tourism industry, providing amazing wildlife viewing
programs in Canada's north. The company generates polar bear-habitat
conservation awareness through partnerships with organizations including Polar
Bears International (PBI), a non-profit dedicated to conservation of polar
bears. Groundbreaking initiatives from this partnership include PBI Leadership
Camp and PBI Tundra Connections that feature polar bear species experts.
Frontiers North recently earned the opportunity to continue for another
five years to exclusively host guests at Cape Churchill in Wapusk National
Park. The operator has been honoured with Travel Manitoba's Sustainable
Tourism and Ecotourism Awards and is recognized by the Tourism Industry
Association of Canada as one of the top three sustainable tourism operators in
Canada. In 2007, Nunavut Tourism presented the company with an Award of
Excellence for outstanding investment in tourism and sustainable development
practices.
SOURCE: Frontiers North Adventures
CONTACT: For comment, information or photos of the polar bears
please contact: Jaime Dzikowski,
Marketing Manager,
Frontiers North Adventures, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada,
Phone: (204) 949-2050,
E-mail: jaime.dzikowski@frontiersnorth.com
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