Up Close And Personal With Nanook in Nunavut

In this week’s issue of Travel Courier, Ian Stalker reports that Iqaluit-based Arctic Kingdom is inviting travellers to take a close-up look at Nanook. And, says the company’s Jason Hillier, they’ll do so on foot, eschewing the specially built vehicles used in the Churchill, Man., area — seen as synonymous by some with polar bear-viewing — to see the world’s largest land carnivores.

Arctic Kingdom — which primarily sends people to Nunavut but also offers the Northwest Territories, Newfoundland and Labrador, Greenland and Antarctica — has guided foot tours of up to two hours that can bring participants within 100 feet of polar bears, iconic symbols of the North.

“Our trips are really wildlife-centric,” Hillier told Travel Courier. “We liken them to bringing the African safari experience into the High Arctic.”

Arctic Kingdom’s October and November polar bear tours have people stay in fly-in cabins near the Nunavut community of Arviat — found on Hudson Bay about 200 km. north of Churchill — where the polar bear — called Nanuq by the Inuit — is a free-roaming resident during the run-up to ice forming on the bay. Participants will be led on foot by Inuit guides, who Hillier reports are “highly trained” in polar bear behaviour, able to judge a bear’s personality by watching it, enabling them to see, for instance, if the bear is calm or agitated.

But Hillier adds the bears tend to be inquisitive, often approaching the visitors, with guides — trained in ‘deterrence’ gestures — able to convince the predators to retreat by behaviour that may be as simple as clapping hands.

To get the full story in this week’s issue of Travel Courier, click here.