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A few days ago I learned about the terminatable bears experiment. We drove past the building named L9 where the experiment was conducted. This was a military building and has retained its name. A project partly funded by the WWF many years ago. The authorities decided to sacfifice one or more Polar Bears by dipping them in oil to test if this made them feel the cold more and reduced the effect of their fur. They were OK with the cold as it is their fat layer that keeps them warm but they died because they licked their fur to remove the oil and were poisioned by the toxic oil. Very sad.
On the same day we were walking along the shores of Hudson Bay amongst huge rocks. We were clearly warned to immediately freeze if we encountered a Polar Bear or if a helicopter flew overhead as this startles the sleeping Polar Bears and they jump up and start wandering.(Peter flew out to some remote sites on Tuesday to collect data as there are no roads to these regions.) We were told to stop and the Bear would dictate our next move. Paul who was walking with us had a loaded shotgun. We were all nervously looking around and behind every rock. Think I sweated a bit for that time. If you run when you see a Bear they think you are food and you are dead.
L7 is the garbage dump building. Again a military designation that has been retained. The outside garbage dump was closed several years ago and the council had the intention of sending it by train to another town but they decided that they didn't want Churchill's garbage. It is now building up in building L7. It has huge steel bars on the front and the rear is partly underground with a timber wall. The Polar Bears just broke through the back of the building had had a feast on garbage. The back is now steel reinforced with huge plates of scrap metal. There is a baited Polar Bear trap next to L7 and I am told is often occupied each morning. The seal fat used to bait the traps actually attracts more polar bears to the region and the smarter male bears avoid the traps so it is the females or cubs that are caught.
The town has a tagging system of spray paint for bears. Green for their first offence, yellow for their second and red for their last. If a rainbow bear is sighted in town with spray paint green,yellow,red it is dead.
The Polar Bears are still legally hunted by the native people and rich tourists can but a "tag" or a licence to trophy hunt for a large sum of money.
Polar bears that are caught for research are tagged in both ears, have the inside of their lips tatooed and have a tooth removed to determine their age. If they are female they also have a radio collar attached and are tracked by satellites. The males are not fitted as their necks are actually bigger than their heads and the collar would simply pull off. Female bears are easily identified by their neck size as well a yellow urine stain on their fur.
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