Polar Bear Season kicked off on explore.org with a live chat, as Polar Bears International’s Alysa McCall hosted fan-favorites Rangers Roy Wood and Mike Fitz of Katmai National Park.
Now that the seasons are changing, the brown bears are beginning to den and hibernate for the winter. The oranges and browns of Katmai are giving way to the stark white of the Arctic Tundra – a perfect environment for the Polar Bears to begin their hunt.
For the past few months, while the brown bears have been getting fat on salmon, the polar bears have been living on their own fat reserves. They now gather in Churchill, Manitoba off the Hudson Bay and await the deep freeze, the sea ice becoming the platform where polar bears find seals, their main food source. The whites of ice and snow provide the polar bears with a perfect cover to sneak up on their prey.
Today’s live chat with the Rangers of Katmai and Polar Bears International was a smooth transition between bear cams. While the animals share many similarities, they differ widely in most regards. Alysa, Mike, and Roy highlighted these subtleties by answering questions asked directly from our viewers on explore.org. The panel discussed bears’ diets, size differences, habitats, mother/cub relationships and much more.
Alysa also shared some facts on polar bear migration, tundra buggies, and gave a few hints of the surprises, contests, and live chats to come this season. Catch a list of many of the events here. And if you missed the live chat, watch it in its entirety below:
