Welcome to "The Polar Bear Capital of the World" Part 2

Overview
Recently in October, two Louisville Zoo staff members (Education Curator Marcelle Gianelloni and Public Relations Manager Kara Bussabarger) along with Louisville Zoo teen volunteers Emily Goldstein and Brandie Farkas traveled to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada on an all-expense paid trip courtesy of Polar Bears International. [For more information on how they got to go, check out http://www.louisvillezoo.org/projectpolarbear/award.htm.]

By Kara Bussabarger, Public Relations Manager

You think milk is expensive? One visit to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, (the “Polar Bear Capital of the World”) and you might think different.

• A gallon of milk is $8.29 a gallon ($8.75 Canadian).
• Bread is $5.10 a loaf ($5.39 Canadian).
• Peaches are $3.12 a pound ($3.30 a pound Canadian).
• Bananas are $1.63 a pound ($1.72 a pound Canadian).
• Ice Cream bars (package of 6) is $8.80 ($9.29 Canadian).

The prices likely have something to do with the remoteness of Churchill. It is a town of 800 residents and you can’t drive to get there. There are no actual roads to Churchill, there are only two primary modes of transportation to get there—air and rail. And there is only one grocery store in town. Actually is more like a general store—selling clothing, furniture, toys and food.

We were told most of the residents in Churchill live in government apartments. And since housing is on permafrost (ground that is permanently frozen, but sometimes thaws in the summer) the houses often have to be adjusted underneath with jacks to level them out.

While there, the Zoo group stayed at the Tundra Inn (http://www.tundrainn.com/inn.html), a quaint 31-room inn. Note, there are no luxury hotels in Churchill and there is absolutely NO cell phone reception. There is a computer in the Tundra Inn lobby guests can use to communicate back home, or if you bring your laptop, you could utilize the internet connection inside your room.

If you go to Churchill and are not use to the cold weather, be sure to bring warm clothes. We are talking about wearing two pairs of long under wear, three shirts, scarf, hat and two jackets at one time. If you conjure up the image of the small child off the Christmas Story you are on the right track! The average temperature during October is about 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit with an average of 2 hours of sun a day. (http://en.allmetsat.com/climate/north-america.php?code=71913) While this can be a harsh, unrelenting environment, it is also one of the most stunning, magnificent places in the earth.

For more information on the town of Churchill, you can visit their website at http://www.churchill.ca.

Welcome To "The Polar Bear Capital of the World"Part 1

Overview
Recently in October, two Louisville Zoo staff members (Education Curator Marcelle Gianelloni and Public Relations Manager Kara Bussabarger) along with Louisville Zoo teen volunteers Emily Goldstein and Brandie Farkas traveled to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada on an all-expense paid trip courtesy of Polar Bears International. [For more information on how they got to go, check out http://www.louisvillezoo.org/projectpolarbear/award.htm.]

By Kara Bussabarger, Zoo PR Manager
Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, is located on the shores of Hudson Bay, and was given the name “Polar Bear Capital of the World,” because it’s the largest concentration of polar bears in the world at one time. During the peak polar bear season in early October through November, more than 1,000 polar bears congregate around the shores of the Hudson Bay as they wait for the ice to freeze so they can begin their hunting season.

Churchill was once a military base for United States and Canada and is now a small town of about 800 residents. The economy is based on a number of thriving sectors such as mining, transportation, forestry, commercial fishing, trapping and tourism. Prince of Wales Fort, built in the mid 1700s by the Hudson Bay Company, sits just across the river, a solid reminder of the fur trade which first put Churchill on the map.

When you visit Churchill, you should be aware that a polar bear may be encountered anywhere at any time of the year. There are “Polar Bear ALERT” signs posted around town as well as a special polar bear alert phone line (675-BEAR) for sightings. Conservation officers first try to scare off any bears that wander into town, usually with ear-piercing cracker shells although sometimes rubber bullets are used. When that doesn’t work, the bears are trapped using a bear trap (a large metal cylinder baited with seal meat or oil) and are detained in the Polar Bear Compound at the edge of town for up to 30 days or until the ice on the Bay has frozen over. The Compound contains 28 holding areas and bears are isolated from people to avoid a familiarity and dependence on humans. While the Louisville Zoo group was in Churchill, the Compound housed about 16 bears. One was even caught wandering the town while they were there!

Early one morning, Zoo staff members Marcelle Gianelloni and I walked to the post office to mail postcards back home. Later that morning at breakfast, we were told a polar bear had been caught in the street next to the post office—just a few minutes after we had left. It was an almost “too-close encounter!”

Did you know that the Zoo’s upcoming Glacier Run exhibit is loosely modeled after Churchill? Glacier Run is an imaginary mining town located at the edge of the arctic wilderness where Zoo visitors will become immersed and actively involved in the exhibit experience. The seal and sea lion habitat are scheduled to open in 2010 with the polar bear habitat slated to open in 2011.

A Town On The Edge Of The Arctic

Construction has begun on the town of Glacier Run, which is modeled after an imaginary mining town located on the edge of the arctic wilderness. Based on the idea that humankind and nature must co-exist, Glacier Run will be a truly unique experience where you an visit the animals, talk to the keepers about conservation and become temporarily immersed in life on the tundra. The exhibit will recreate the natural habitat for some of the Zoo's most popular residents including polar bears, seals and sea lions.

The town will include a school house and general store. One fun interactive feature will be a parked truck in which visitors can sit while polar bears explore the truck bed behind them (separated by a glass barrier of course). Bears will also walk over visitor's heads along a walkway resembling a mine shaft. (Click on the image above to see a larger view of what this experience will look like.) A spacious amphitheater will make viewing the seal and sea lion enrichment demonstrations more enjoyable. And a special program will even allow small groups of visitors to have close-up interactions with the sea lions.

What is Glacier Run?

The Louisville Zoo is known nationally for its innovative award-winning exhibits like the Islands and Gorilla Forest. So when it came time to plan the next major exhibit, the stakes were pretty high. After an amazing amount of discussing and planning and designing, the Louisville Zoo has embarked on another major project that will engage and inspire visitors. Glacier Run is a comprehensive project with multiple components. We wanted to share some of the most exciting parts of this project with you.

In the coming weeks and months, we'll have construction updates and pictures, videos, stories and photos from people who have visited the tundra, lots of animal information and just about everything else you can think of that's related to arctic animals and habitats.