Going on a bear hunt in Canada

To witness the huge gathering of polar bears in remotest Canada each autumn, so beloved of author Irvine Welsh, you need to book now
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Jo Fernandez8 May 2013

The polar bear follows the ice. It’s what they do. The problem is, there’s none here in Churchill, Manitoba, a frontier town of around 900 hardy souls on the fringe of Hudson Bay. Even seasonal pancake ice, forming in preparation for its big freeze, is almost absent. So the local bear population lies deeper in the tundra, sheltering from the sun in scrubby woods, too far out for us nosy tourists.

I love bears. I just don’t care about them that much. If I did, I probably wouldn’t come here. The eco-friendly train, known as the polar bear express, takes 16 hours and I’m a busy sort. As my flight burns 900kg of CO², I’ve already melted a good few feet of ice cap.

Theoretically, there should be no shortage of that. The fresh water from the Churchill River freezes as it flows into the Hudson Bay, icing half of this huge stretch of water. The bears ride this non-permanent ice as long as they can. It’s richer in food than the pack ice, letting in the light, therefore growing the algae to attract the fish, which bring the seals. Then, at the top of the food chain, the bears appear.

The nomadic nature of the polar bear makes their population hard to calculate. Current estimates range from 20,000-25,000, with 60 per cent of them in Canada, around 1,000 in the West Hudson Bay area. They cover a large home range of 3,000 square miles, displaying high seasonal fidelity. Their main drive is to get on to the ice from autumn to spring.

In autumn, the bears are emerging from a state of walking hibernation, still mobile while their metabolism operates at the same level as a sleeping black bear’s. Global warming loses them a week’s feeding time per decade and this may rise. The number of cubs produced is regulated by female fat ratios. Three used to be common, now one is the norm.

My wife and I stay at the Lazy Bear Lodge, which also runs tours. It’s a comfortable spot, with friendly and knowledgeable staff. They lament the warm weather, lack of ice, and therefore bears. Meals are excellent, with local food such as braised caribou, arctic char and homemade blueberry pie. It isn’t licensed for alcohol but there are basic bars in town.

The next morning we get into an old school bus and drive to the edge of the tundra, where Arctic Crawlers are parked. The crawler is a 40-seat vehicle with big windows, a rear observation deck and a sign warning you not to feed or “bait” the bears.

The scenery appears, on first glance, to be uniform, then starts to become nuanced and the result is hypnotic. The terrain is mesmerising: ponds of fresh bluish water nestle in the brown scrub and piles of rock by green moss and lichen, broken only by an occasional sprouting fir tree. But there are no bears.

Suddenly, excitement grips the vehicle as we see an adult male, striding across the prairie. He’s pretty far away, however, and as the crawler tries to get closer, he moves behind some rocks. The bulk of the day is spent searching the prairie without getting close. Then, as we get into the bus to drive back, two large bears are casually slumped on opposite sides of the road. One intimidates a justifiably nervous pack of husky sleigh dogs, chained to the ground. Another basks in the sun. Cameras click, then as the light fades it’s time to go back to our lodge.

The next day, the temperature has dramatically fallen. The bears, however, continue to tease; people gasp when one seems to be coming close, groan when it heads off or collapses behind a rock. I’m witnessing the strange power these animals have over us, by virtue of their scarcity; holidays, even life experiences, are vindicated, or otherwise, by the whims of these bears.

With a gust of snow, the temperature drops further. Rock pools freeze. And then on cue: a proper polar bear experience. One 10ft pear-shaped patroller, a young adult male, lumbers up to the vehicle, posing for photos like a red carpet veteran. It sets off a frenzy as folk jostle for position like paparazzi. Abruptly, as if his PR person has signalled him, the bear quietly slips off to his private screening in the rocks.

His abrupt absence makes us briefly embarrassed at our digital recording greed. But this is quickly replaced by the acknowledgment of what we’ve just shared. There’s something so visceral and humbling about being this close to such a powerful animal in its natural habitat. I sensed this moment would stay with every stranger on that observation deck. One woman, looking at her young daughter, informed me, “If she has kids, they’ll probably never be able to see anything like this.”

This trip was marvellous, with the caveat that it’s for bear nuts only. It’s a relatively sedentary excursion and you (sensibly) can’t leave the truck.

In the two days it took to write this article, we have lost, statistically speaking, a polar bear or two and gained around 421,856 new humans. All will grow up wanting food, homes, cars and travel. Some might even want to see polar bears in their natural habitat.

So maybe it’s daft to feel sorry for the polar bear, relentlessly being phased out of existence. Our pity should be saved for the next generations of our own species. Maybe we can turn it around; then again, perhaps asking humans to stop following the money is a bit like asking the polar bear to stop following the ice.

DETAILS: CANADA

Trailfinders’ five-night Ultimate Polar Bear Tour from £2,998pp includes two nights at the Hilton Suites in Winnipeg, room only, three nights at the Lazy Bear Lodge B&B, with one dinner, a three-hour tour and return flights from Winnipeg to Churchill, for selected October and November departures.

Return flights from London to Winnipeg via Toronto or Vancouver from £799, trailfinders.com

Skagboys by Irvine Welsh (Vintage, £7.99, vintage-books.co.uk) is now out in paperback.

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