Collision course: polar bears forced into people’s path by climate crisis

Recent encounters – one fatal – in Canada highlight how sea ice changes have disrupted Arctic predator’s search for food

John Ussak was tending to his fishing nets outside the Arctic hamlet of Rankin Inlet when a friend warned a polar bear had been spotted in the area.

The next day, Ussak’s wife spotted the lone bear nearly a mile from their nets. Worried the bear was stalking a popular summer fishing spot, Ussak approached it and fired a volley of warning shots. But the predator seemed unfazed.

“It took 20 shots before it thought about leaving,” he said. “I’ve never seen that before.” Days later, in another part of Nunavut, two polar bears killed a radar technician in a rare attack in the territory.

The fatal encounter and sightings in unusual locations foreshadow what experts say is a looming clash between polar bears and northern communities as climate change upends the habitat and food sources of the apex predator.

The deadly attack on 7 August happened on Brevoort Island, the site of a North American air-defense radar station. Nasittuq, the company operating the station, says employees killed one of the bears involved in the attack.

Despite an estimated 17,000 polar bears in Canada, fatal encounters are rare. Still, the attack rattled a region well-versed in polar bears.

“When I heard about what happened to that technician, I was shocked,” said Ussak, who only days after encountering the bear in early August spotted a mother and her cub in the same area. He and a friend successfully scared the pair off.

“We hardly used to see polar bears here in the past. But now we’ve had at least two in the last few weeks. It feels like there’s more bears up in that area – and they don’t seem afraid of people.”

Andrew Derocher, a professor of biology at the University of Alberta, says the mauling at Brevoort Island was “unusual” given the location and the fact that two bears were involved. While details are scarce, he suspects it was probably a “wrong place, wrong time” encounter.

“The reality is, polar bears are unpredictable at the best of times,” Derocher said. “And with all of the environmental changes we’re seeing, they’re going to become more unpredictable.”

Across the region, sea ice will play a critical role in polar bears’ future prospects, including where they are spotted and how well-fed they are. Some populations faced near-record-low ice cover this summer, while other bears like the western Hudson Bay population had “excellent” ice coverage. But even extensive ice cover isn’t enough: across swaths of the bay, the ice was thick but lacked ridges and snow cover, meaning it was a poor breeding site for ringed seals, a top polar bear prey. Shifts in seal populations will put immense pressure on bears to find enough food.

“Back in the 1980s, polar bears would look like giant, fat sausages lying on the beach in the summer. But now, we’re seeing a population that is much leaner overall. And I suspect as food becomes more of a challenge … they’ll start entering [human] communities. Are those communities ready? Absolutely not. A handful have small polar bear patrol programs, but most have nothing,” said Derocher. “Given the rarity of sightings, it’s understandable. It’s hard to have a crew of polar bear people on standby for a couple bears a year coming through at unpredictable times.”

Still, instead of preparing for more encounters, Derocher says the main discussions in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories often center around ensuring the annual hunt remains sustainable. For residents, a polar bear tag can be financially lucrative, with territorial governments spending thousands of dollars in subsidies for pelts. Scientists and residents have also clashed over population numbers, with hunters’ increased sightings suggesting populations are growing.

“While people focus on the hunt, I’m hearing more and more from communities saying: ‘We’ve got open garbage pits here that are attracting polar bears into their towns. We need help with our garbage. We have polar bears coming into our communities in the middle of winter and in the middle of the summer. We need help.’”

Derocher suspects the Rankin Inlet bears scared off by Ussak appeared in the community because of a shift in summer ice patterns, pushing the bears on to land farther north than usual.

“The reality is, these encounters are going to increase over time and it’s going to get a lot worse. But then it’s going to get better, because, as sad as it is, the population will start to disappear,” Derocher said. “This population of bears isn’t expected to persist past mid-century. So fewer and fewer bears means the problems in places like Rankin Inlet are limited.”

Cover photo: By The Guardian