Forward Action Plan:

"Acres for the Atmosphere"

It is an amazing feat to gather 20 zoo keepers for one week on the sub-arctic tundra and facilitate the creation of their plan to save the world. What was their challenge? Change behavior to reverse the effects of global warming to save polar bear habitat within the next five years, before it is too late. It is a lofty, but critical goal. Views of wild polar bears provided the inspiration and we provided the guidance and tools to empower these keepers to take the challenge into their own hands and develop a plan to enact the change necessary to save polar bear habitat.

They called their inspired project “Acres for the Atmosphere.” The overall goal is to increase greenspace in an effort to sequester the carbon that causes global warming and the eventual effect of climate change. While many groups focus on tree planting, the significance of this project is that it focuses on large tracts of land, not just the planting of individual trees. Additionally, the scope of the project involves all aspects of greening, not just tree planting, but saving existing forest from unsustainable harvest. Each keeper will return to their local community and begin the process of engaging partners in greening large tracts of land.

Global warming is causing the melting of sea ice that polar bears, and many other species, require for survival. Without sea ice, polar bears cannot hunt seals, the major food source their lives depend on. If the ice disappears, ultimately polar bears will too. Greening projects like “Acres for the Atmosphere” are just one way to address the many challenges of reducing the effects of global warming. We need you to get involved too. Read more about what you can do to help. Leading scientists now report that we have only five years before we reach the tipping point when global warming becomes irreversible resulting in polar bears being lost forever. Right now we have a chance. What will you do?

"Will you be one of them?"


What happens when a stray dog encounters a polar bear on the tundra? We had the rare opportunity to see that scene unfold today. We had a large male polar bear lying outside of our tundra lodge today when an unsuspecting large, white, fluffy domestic dog ran by. Although all of our hands were shaking at the conflict sure to ensue, the polar bear merely raised his head, chuffed a couple of times, stretched, and laid back down. The dog, of course, quickly skittered away when he realized the peril. So, why, you ask, would a polar bear refuse an easy meal if he were starving? After talking to Dr. Gregory Theimann from York University yesterday, we thought we maybe had the answer to that. Ringed seals are the primary food source for polar bears in the wild, and provide the right kind of nutrition and fat that the bears need to survive the long, harsh winters. We figured that the bear may have simply not wanted to exert the energy it takes to fight and eat the dog as it would not provide the nutrition he needed. After all, polar bears are pretty strict specialists when it comes to foraging. We later found out that this particular dog was owned by someone in Churchill, and was supposed to serve as a polar bear lookout dog. The residents of Churchill have adapted ways of cohabitating peacefully with wildlife. No person in Churchill has been killed by a polar bear in about 20 years. We learned earlier in the week, how First Nation natives of this area hunt and trap only what they need for survival and have the greatest respect for the land.

Another new experience for many of us today was speaking to a group of fourth graders at a school in Winnipeg via the internet. Through this, we were not only able to share some of the information that we learned over the last few days, but we also learned how to speak to a young audience using age appropriate language. It was a great experience for both the kids and us.

Today, we ambassadors had what could be described as an epiphany. We came up with a plan to help reverse global warming by reducing greenhouse gases and reducing carbon dioxide at the source. We came here to learn how to inspire change, and really believe that we can by implementing a program we came up with called “Acres for the Atmosphere.” Though it is a big undertaking that is both daunting and empowering, we cannot wait to return home and get started on it. Make sure to periodically check the Polar Bears International and the American Association of Zoo Keepers websites to see what it is all about.

Packing up to go home, we know we are forever changed by our week with the polar bears of Churchill. As we finish writing this blog and chatting about life experiences, we realize the greatest truth we learned from Robert and Carolyn and the PBI family, is that, friends help friends. It’s all about the people we encounter in our lives and the relationships we build. We have a five-year window to change our ways and reverse the effects of global warming in time to preserve the polar bears’ sea ice habitat. As we move forward we will encounter many special people who will help us on our mission to save polar bear habitat. Will you be one of them?

PATIENCE

The snow is falling and the wind is howling. The temperature is probably in the single digits, but none of us dare venture outside for long to check. We are writing this in the Tundra Buggy Lodge, below the Arctic Circle, along the Hudson Bay. There’s a polar bear sleeping ten yards from us. Talk about patience. He’s waiting for ice to form. Waiting for the opportunity to hunt and eat seals on the ice. It’ll probably be at least another month before he’ll be able to do this, so he waits. Patience. What’s happening up here is that he has to wait longer and longer each year for his opportunity. With the Earth getting warmer every year, the ice forms later and later. He just got up to look at us, raising his nose to check the smells in the air. He fumbles with a branch in front of him, breaks it off with his mouth and rolls on his back to play with it. He settles himself and is silent and still again. Still waiting for ice. Patience.

As we fill the air with our emissions - from keeping the lights on when we’re not in the room, driving our cars for every little task, cranking the air conditioning in July even when the front door is cracked open, and from chopping down all the trees for our dining room furniture– we’re warming the planet. The changes may seem miniscule – maybe a few degrees warmer on a summer day – but the changes at the North and South poles are much easier to see. We are two of the lucky few to say we’ve seen a polar bear in the wild. Although you may never get that chance, do you want to live on a planet without them? He yawns, stretches his right leg, and curls up again. Patience.

Their fate is just the beginning of this snowball effect. If we continue on this path, your visit to the Jersey shore may be affected. As ocean levels rise, the boardwalks in Cape May and Wildwood will be under water, and the power of the sea will devour ocean-front properties. Skiing in the Poconos will be more difficult as the snow gets less and less. Can you afford higher electricity bills because you need your air-conditioning more each year? We look up and our furry friend outside is still asleep. Patience.

Canary in a coalmine is a phrase coined long ago when birds were used to test air conditions in mines before humans entered. The polar bear is the big white canary in the coalmine of the North. He’s telling us we need to stop wasting, stop abusing, stop taking what we have for granted. Patience. He’s patient because he has to be. We can’t afford to be patient any longer. We need to do something about it. Whether for your own children or the polar bear outside our window. Do something.

Wednesday October 7th, 2009


No experience could be greater and more thrilling than seeing a polar bear in its natural environment, and we certainly had our share of those amazing experiences today.

It couldn’t be more fitting that after listening to Bill Watkins, Biodiversity Conservation Biologist for Manitoba, speak on biodiversity, a natural lesson on the topic unfolded right in front of us. Ptarmigans, snow buntings, ravens, Arctic hare, eiders, Arctic fox, bald eagle, Arctic terns, tundra swan, Canada geese and even amphipods all share this land with the Great White Bear. We saw each of them today in a matter of hours, often within yards of one another, living their lives in the absence of Man. Yet it is Man that will greatly impact their future.

One of the things Mr. Watkins pointed out is that there is an estimated 30 million species on this planet and only 1.8 million have been identified. If we are doing things that affect such a large mega fauna like the polar bear, imagine what is happening with the remaining unknown organisms. Nature is the ultimate teacher. Do we want to take the risk of destroying these ecosystems before we have a chance to learn from them?

Hi Everyone!

Polar Bear International Leadership Camp 2009

We saw our first polar bear today. We spotted her early in the morning about 400 yards out from the Tundra Buggy Lodge. Later that afternoon we went out on an adventure on a moblie platform that methodically crawled in her direction.

It was a truly emotional experience for all of us zoo professsionals who work with animals every day in our lives. This is our inspiring moment. This bear was looking at us possibly thinking what is this rare and unusual thing, does this bear really know how rare she actually is? While the bear was quietly resting her head on the tundra, the president of PBI, Robert Buchanan, had all of us close our eyes for a moment and imagine we may be the last generation to see this polar bear in the wild. When we all opened our eyes, suddenly she lifted her head to look at us, reaffirming that we hold her fate in our hands. Do you think it is possible that even she knows what may lie ahead, when within the next five years, the ice that she relies on may not return?

Day 1:

On our first day we found that the conservation effort to protect humans and bears in Churchill is extreme. This program is called the Churchill Polar Bear Alert Program. The cost, time and energy put into this effort are significant. This unique effort has three main goals. Those are the safety of people, the safety of the bears and decreasing habituation of the bears to man. The program consists of hazing, trapping, holding the bears until freeze up, collection of scientific data of trapped bears, routine patrols of the community, community outreach, public relations and education.

In 2005 the Churchill dump was closed. Previously this had been a favorite place for the bears to spend time. In the year before closing 302 problem bears were reported. In 2008 the number of bears reported had decreased to 171. The decrease in just the cost of transporting problem bears out of Churchill went from $47,000 in 2004 to $22,000 in 2008.

We need to find ways to encourage the rest of the world to use this proactive approach to managing interactions between wildlife and people. Churchill’s efforts to live with the polar bears, not just eliminate them as nuisances, is a model that other polar bear communities should make every effort to emulate.

Below are pictures of the bear traps used to catch the bears that wander too close to town.