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What do I do if I cannot confidently identify the species of bear in the photo?

Don’t worry- just try anyway! Look at the field guide, give it your best shot, and after you’ve pressed “identify” click “done and talk”. There you can add a comment about why you can’t tell and flag this for other volunteers and project researchers to look at more carefully. It may feel imprecise but multiple volunteers look at each photo, so any significant disagreement gets flagged for the researchers to look at more closely.

Does the presence of grizzly and black bears affect polar bear denning behaviour?

We don’t know! All three bear species could be affecting each others’ behaviours in multiple different ways. Your volunteer work on this project will help us to see whether we can find any answers about the interactions between the bears with these remote cameras, or whether we will need to try something else.

Why do some polar bears have collars?

We’re not the only researchers working in Wapusk National Park. Biologists from the Canadian Wildlife Service and the University of Alberta have been studying the Western Hudson Bay sub-population of polar bears in this area since the 1960s: long before it became a national park. As part of their ongoing research they often put satellite-telemetry collars on female polar bears to learn about their movements and the reproductive dynamics of this subpopulation. Photo Credit: Doug Clark

Can hybridization occur between polar, grizzly and black bears?

Polar bears can and have hybridized with grizzly bears in the Western Arctic. Hybrid bears haven’t been seen yet in Hudson Bay, but there’s a first time for everything. Black bears are too different from either of those other species to hybridize with either of them.

Do polar, grizzly, and black bears interact differently with humans?

Every one of these bear species behaves a bit differently. For example, polar bears are extremely curious and will investigate anything different on the landscape- including people and camps. However bears of all these species are very much individuals, and every situation is different. This means it’s really hard to generalize about how bears behave. Nevertheless, people have figured out what works to stay safe around bears. If you want to learn more about bear safety, check out Doug Clark’s YouTube playlist of bear safety videos.