As a fitness buff, could I go out jogging in Churchill or Camp Nanuq right now with no worries of bear attack?
Yes, you could jog from late November through early July with no fear of polar bear attack in Churchill – maybe only the fear of imploding your lungs with -40C air or being run down by a snowmobile but that’s about it. The bears are not a factor for most of the winter and spring. They come off the ice around the third week of July and head back out usually in mid-November. The only exception is late February and March when females with young cubs or lone females (whose cubs have not survived) return to the ice from their maternity dens. There is usually one or two weeks where fresh polar bear tracks can be seen passing through the Churchill area. Right now (winter solstice), we do not think about polar bears at all – especially since we are all still ‘recovering’ from ‘polar bear season’.
