Why was the town churchill in manitoba nicknamed as ” Polar Bear Capital of the World”?”
Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname “Polar Bear Capital of the World” that has helped its growing tourism industry. A variety of nomadic Arctic people lived and hunted in this region. The Thule people arrived around 1000 A.D. from farther west, and later evolved into the present-day Inuit culture. The Dene people arrived around 500 from farther north. Since before the time of European contact, the region around Churchill has been predominantly inhabited by the Chipewyan and Cree natives. Europeans first arrived in the area in 1619 when a Danish expedition led by Jens Munk wintered where Churchill would later stand. Only 3 of 64 expedition members survived the winter and journeyed back to Denmark.[3] After an abortive attempt in 1688-89, in 1717 the Hudson’s Bay Company built the first permanent settlement, Churchill River Post, a log f
If you find yourself face-to-face with a polar bear in Churchill, Manitoba – what do you do? “Don’t run and don’t play dead,” says Brad Josephs, a highly experienced naturalist and certified “bear junkie” who has been an expedition leader with Natural Habitat Adventures (www.NatHab.com) for six years and a brown bear guide in Alaska for nearly 11 years. “If you act like prey, they’ll treat you like prey. If you see a bear in town, walk calmly to the nearest car or building and go inside. Then call Polar Bear Alert.” Polar Bear walking accross frozen waterThat’s 675-BEAR, to get in touch with Polar Bear Alert: a team of conservation officers from Manitoba Conservation who are on-call 24 hours a day during peak polar bear season to deal with any bear issues in and around town – and boy, do they get busy. Churchill’s peak polar bear season begins early October and continues through November. During this time, over 1,000 polar bears congregate around the shores of the Hudson Bay as they wa
