Polar Bear

Preventing human-polar bear conflict
As climate change forces polar bears to spend longer time onshore, they come in contact more often with Arctic communities. Unfortunately, these interactions sometimes end badly for humans and bears.

In Russia and Alaska, WWF addresses this challenge by supporting local efforts to protect people and polar bears.

In Chukotka, Russia, members of the Umky (the indigenous Chukchi word for “polar bear”) patrols monitor the presence of polar bears near coastal villages. They deter the bears when they come too close to communities. During the late summer and fall, Umky patrol members escort children to school and have expanded lighting to improve public safety.  

Umky patrols also protect areas where large numbers of walrus come ashore to rest when the summer sea ice vanishes from the shallow water where they forage. In the Russian villages of Vankarem and Ryrkaipiy, tens of thousands of walrus can crowd onto narrow spits of land each fall as they wait for the winter sea ice to begin forming.  

When disturbed, they stampede and leave behind carcasses that attract hungry polar bears, bringing them into close proximity with people.  WWF has supported the Vankarem and Ryrkaipiy Umky patrol’s work to relocate dozens of the carcasses away from the village, diverting the bears and helping to keep polar bears and people safe.

Umky patrols record when and where polar bears appear near villages and conduct spring den surveys to identify coastal denning areas.  

Watch this video to learn more about the benefits of the Umky patrols:

Keeping food out of bears’ reach
Many Arctic communities are highly dependent on the natural bounty of the land and sea for food. But food storage areas that people have safely used for generations may become more accessible to bears that are forced to spend more time on shore.

WWF works with several communities across the Arctic to test the use of new methods for storing food that has been harvested by local people.  

Supporting science
Scientists are currently monitoring the weight and movement of polar bears in the Arctic (the U.S., Norway and Canada).

WWF and partners are working to understand the impact that different threats, such as climate change and the expansion of industry in the Arctic, are having on different polar bear populations.

By tracking these bears, scientists can map a polar bear's range and examine how habitat use may change over time in response to changes in the sea ice.

Follow the polar bear tracker

Over time this information reveals changes and adaptations.  

WWF also provides funding for polar bear researchers to travel to Russia and the U.S. to share and exchange scientific information about polar bears with other researchers.   

Protecting the “Last Ice Area” of the Arctic
Scientists believe that a natural “safety net” of ice in the High Arctic of Canada and Greenland, ice covering 500,000 square miles, or twice the size of Texas, may persist longer than the ice anywhere else. Since 1992, WWF has been working with partners to sustainably preserve the rich biodiversity of this region.

Now, WWF works with local people to establish an appropriate management plan for this “Last Ice Area” in Canada and Greenland. This plan could fill many needs, such as conserving habitat for Arctic ice dependent species and protecting the cultural heritage and economic needs of local people.