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Expedition 🇨🇦 Canada

Polar Bear in Canada

Lord of the frozen edge — the world's largest land carnivore, patrolling sea ice and tundra in search of seals.

Polar Bear

The species

The polar bear is a marine mammal in all but name, spending much of its life on Arctic sea ice hunting ringed and bearded seals. Adults can weigh over 600 kilograms, with thick blubber, broad paws for swimming, and a keen sense of smell that detects a seal breathing hole from a kilometre away.

Habitat in Canada

Circumpolar Arctic sea ice, coastal tundra, and frozen bays across Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and Alaska. Bears follow the ice edge where seals congregate, and den in snow drifts on land during winter.

Where to spot one

  • Churchill, Manitoba

    Hudson Bay Coast

    The polar bear capital of the world — bears gather on the tundra each autumn waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze.

  • Banff & Jasper National Parks

    Alberta

    Rocky Mountain wilderness — elk, bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, and turquoise lakes beneath glacier peaks.

  • Algonquin Provincial Park

    Ontario

    Classic Canadian Shield country — moose in misty lakes at dawn, loons on the water, wolves howling at night.

  • Great Bear Rainforest

    British Columbia

    Temperate rainforest coast — grizzlies fishing salmon, humpback whales offshore, and the rare white spirit bear.

Conservation status

VU — Vulnerable

Polar bears are Vulnerable, with populations projected to decline as Arctic sea ice shrinks. Canada holds roughly two-thirds of the world's polar bears, making Churchill, Manitoba one of the best places to see them.

Keep exploring

Keep exploring

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