A group of polar bears walk on the shore of the Hudson Bay at sunset in Churchill, Manitoba, which is the polar bear capital of the world.
Johnny Johnson-Photolibrary
A view down Kelsey Boulevard, Churchill's main street. Perched on a southern corner of Hudson Bay, Churchill was founded as a fur trading post in the 18th century and is today Canada's northernmost port and the gateway to the Canadian Arctic. The community itself consists of no more than a dozen blocks, running northwest to southeast about parallel to the railway and the Churchill River.
Japan Travel Bureau/Photolibrary
A polar bear comes to investigate the camera cage on Buggy One, a kind of mobile research station on monster truck wheels.
Daniel J. Cox-Natural Exposures
A tourist on a Tundra Buggy leans out to snap a group of polar bears near the Tundra Buggy Lodge, up ahead.
Jorn Friederich-Photolibrary
A polar bear and a photographer come face to face in Churchill, where such encounters are common. For residents, bear awareness is both ingrained and a matter of pride. The approach is one of neither blustering bravado nor crippling caution; common sense prevails, as does a collective desire to avoid placing human or bear life at unnecessary risk.
Thorsten Milse-Photolibrary
A polar bear is drawn to the smell of bacon cooking in a Churchill kitchen.
Olivier Grunewald-Photolibrary
Churchill businesses gate their trash bins to discourage foragers.
Thorsten Milse-Photolibrary
Clients enjoy a night in the Muktuk at the Tundra Buggy camp at Cape
Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.
Daniel J. Cox-Natural Exposures
Adolescent polar bears wrestle with one another in Churchill.
Daniel J. Cox-Natural Exposures
The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, cast their magic in late winter.
Michael S. Nolan-Photolibrary
One of many polar bear alert warning signs posted inside the town of Churchill.
Paul J. Richards-AFP/Getty Images
Tranquilized bears that have been caught in traps around Churchill are transferred by helicopter to the "polar bear jail," where they are held before being transported about 30 miles from town.
Splashdown Direct/Photolibrary
Biologists move polar bears out of Churchill. The bears are caught in traps baited with seal meat -- the main staple of their diet -- then drugged and airlifted to the "polar bear jail."
Daniel J. Cox-Natural Exposures
A mother polar bear tends to her cubs.
Thorsten Milse-Photolibrary
The region's polar bears come ashore en masse and travel inland when the Hudson Bay ice melts for the summer. As winter approaches, they are instinctively driven back to the shore. As they do so, many of the bears meander past or even through Churchill.
Daniel J. Cox-Natural Exposures
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Troy Witcher
Text Editor Amanda McGrath
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