LARGE ANIMAL ATTACKS - Medicine for Mountaineering and Other Wilderness Activities - page 462

The second took place in 1983 when a man scavenging the newly burned ruins of the
Churchill Hotel found some unspoiled meat in the freezer and stuffed his pockets with it.
(Reports have also stated he was carrying the roast beef under his arm.) Unfortunately, a
polar bear in the vicinity was intent on scavenging and killed the man.
Churchill's “polar bear jail” was built in 1982 to house problem animals—any bear
that has entered the town of Churchill is considered a problem bear—and has reduced
bear-human encounters. Problem bears are housed in this facility until they can be tran-
quilized and helicoptered to another location.
Although one review of bear attacks considered only the two Churchill fatalities to
be well documented, other lethal attacks have probably occurred. According to Internet
sourcesthelastpersonkilledbyapolarbearinCanadawasaBakerLake,Nunavut,woman
in 1999. According to a similar source, only seven people have been killed by polar bears
in Canada in the past thirty years. In the same period only one person has been killed by
a polar bear in Alaska. In all of recorded history, only nineteen people are known to have
been killed by polar bears in Russia.
Polar bears can be found from the permanent pack ice and coasts of the Arctic Ocean
andArctic islands tosouthern HudsonBay.They live mainly onsea ice oronland within a
few kilometers of the coast and are uncommon in inland areas.
Infall,winter,andspring,polarbearshuntsealsontheseaicenearopenwaterandareas
of pushedup sea ice. They also hunt for seals in places where sea ice is thin or cracked,
such as at tide cracks in land-fast ice or at the toes of glaciers.
In summer, polar bears are forced ashore when sea ice melts. They live in semistar-
vation, feeding on birds, eggs, and small mammals along coastlines, beaches, and rocky
islands near the coast. They also scavenge anything from wildlife carcasses to human
garbage.
Theinsulatingfurandunderlyingfatthatallowpolarbearstocomfortablysurvivearctic
temperatures in winter are a major disadvantage in summer because the bears cannot read-
ily lose heat. To minimize heat generation, they walk slowly and do not pursue vigorous
activities. Bears look for sites where the permafrost is close to the surface and lie on the
cool area to get rid of heat.
In fall, winter, and spring, maternity dens are located in snowdrifts along slopes of
coastal hills and valleys. Maternity dens can also be found at higher elevations on snow-
fields and glaciers. Dens are inconspicuous, but bear tracks leading into or away from
snowdrifts, as well as ventilation holes, may indicate den locations.
In winter, temporary dens and daybeds are dug into snowdrifts or pushed-up sea ice.
These are used as resting places or as temporary shelter from bad weather for a few days
up to several months.
Avoiding Encounters with Polar Bears