Communicating with Bears: Polar Bears
First of all, polar bears are not dangerous because they are ferocious and temperamental the way grizzlies are. Although they are closely related to the brown bear or grizzly (their lineage diverged about 200 to 250 thousand years ago, probably from the ancestors of the Kodiak bear), their temperament is quite different from the grizzly and more like the black bear. They tend to be much more sociable, friendly and easy going than grizzlies. They are more willing to tolerate each other's close presence and much mor willing to share food, an important aspect of their social structure. Mellow, affectionate, playful and courteous, polar bears show far less of the brutality towards each other that grizzlies so often do.
However, polar bears are both the largest and most predatory of all the bears, and the only true carnivores. The biggest polar bear on record was a male that weighed a full metric ton. A human relating to a polar bear is in the dubious position of a rabbit relating to a dog. The dog could make friends with the rabbit or just as easily kill and eat it; the same consideration holds for polar bears relating to humans; you can't be sure what the bear's intentions are going to be. For this reason, extreme caution must be practiced around polar bears and you must give them plenty of distance. Even if the bear wanted to be friendly (and sometimes they do), he could still seriously harm you just because he is so big and powerful. Polar bears have had less contact with humans (basically only the last 3,000 years when the ancestors of the Eskimo moved into the Arctic) than other bears, and they generally do not show the kind of restraint towards humans that other bears do.
Despite the fact that they genuinely are dangerous, polar bears are often remarkably good-natured animals. I have seen some remarkable photos of big male polar bears making friends with husky dogs near Cape Churchill in Canada. One bear simply rested near the line of huskies for 2 days, waiting for the huge fuss to die down and the dogs to calm down in his presence. He then explored up and down the line until he found a dog that wasn't too afraid and seemed a little friendly. Slowly, carefully and gently, he made friends with the dog and played with it. One photo shows the dog and bear touching noses by way of introduction; another shows the bear tenderly hugging his canine friend (who looked both scared and elated) with his eyes closed in bliss. The bear took great care not to hurt his little friend. He came back every day to spend some time with the husky until the sea froze and he could go back out on the ice to hunt.
Normally, huskies and polar bears are bitter enemies. Huskies were the essential element that let Eskimos hunt the great white bear in the old days. Polar bears paid back the favor by stealing individual huskies for food, or sometimes going down a line of chained dogs and killing them one by one just out of malice. It was a remarkable feat of empathy and sensitivity on the part of the bear to overcome the dog's natural suspicions and fears. A true Arctic husky KNOWS, to the marrow of his bones, that polar bears are his greatest enemy.
Rarely, polar bears have made friends (more or less) with humans, though humans are really the only thing they have to fear. One operator of a tundra buggy for tourists in the Cape Churchill area was befriended by a big male he called Ozzie. Ozzie recognised his name and also the face of his friend and would come running up as soon as he saw the man or heard his name called. Ozzie would rear up and put his huge paws on the viewing platform, his head extending well above the rail. He would then turn his big head so his friend could easily reach to scratch his ears, something Ozzie greatly enjoyed. The man never felt threatened in Ozzie's presence, but he was the only bear out of several hundred who seemed interested in being friends with a human. I have also seen a photo in National Geographic Magazine showing a driver practically nose-to-nose with a huge bear sticking his enormous head in the window. He was wearing the smiling, half-closed-eyed, "friendly bear" expression that the other bear had used with the husky. The human looked rather awed, but perhaps another of these bears will turn out as friendly as Ozzie.
Another, more complicated case, involved a Swedish researcher who was working on a remote research station in Spitzbergen during the 1960's. He was not allowed to use firearms, but was instead given a Finnish bear spear and several Finnish bear dogs. Their first priority was dealing with a scrawny, arthritic, elderly male that was long past hunting seals easily. He instead seemed intent on sampling "long pig" and was always hobbling painfully along behind him and his partner hoping he could waylay them for dinner. They harrassed him with the dogs and threatened him with the spears to the point he gave up and went away. The local bears were fairly numerous but none too friendly. They would hiss and chuff at the researchers and look threatening. The researchers soon learned to hiss and make blowing noises back at the bears, and would in addition throw snowballs at the bears' feet to get them to back off. They soon came to an uneasy truce with the bears.
One day, the researcher was feeding blubber from some seals he had killed to his dogs, when he saw a particularly large male approach. By this time, the researcher had learned to recognise polar bear body language, and he could see that the polar bear was making every effort to be friendly and courteous in his approach. When the bear was only a few feet away, he began bobbing his head, the signal a polar bear uses when politely begging food from another bear. Amazed, the reasearcher held out some strips of blubber and the bear came to within 6 inches to take them from his hand. Normally, it would be shear madness to attempt to feed a wild polar bear, but the researcher could recognise the intentions of the bear, and in return signal his intentions to the bear in a way that the bear could readily understand. The researcher gave quite a bit of blubber to the bear, and on several other occaisions afterwards too, and the bear was unfailingly polite and friendly-tolerant towards the reasearcher although he did not seek out direct contact the way Ozzie did.
The bear was named "Charlie" (actually "Kalle," the Finnish equivalent), and his relaxed tolerance of the researchers' presence soon made him their chief study subject. Charlie soon established himself as the alpha male of all the local bears. He was not necessarily the biggest, but he was strong, smart and tough, and the other males soon learned not to show him any disrespect or rudeness. Charlie established the research camp as his personal turf, and the other bears stayed out. Charlie could often be seen peering into the windows of the researchers' cabin to see what the human funnies were up to, and I have seen a photo of Charlie doing this. The other polar bears seemed to recognise the special relationship that existed between Charlie and the researchers, they showed more respect and kept out of the researchers' way, but they didn't become any friendlier.
One day, an absolutely huge male came striding into camp, and the researchers expected a big fight between him and Charlie. They cautiously went around the station, but were very surprised to see Charlie and the stranger lying together on the ground cuddled up together. They were sharing some blubber together and licking each other's faces and nibbling each others' necks. The two bears were absolutely devoted bosom buddies; so much so that the researchers wondered if they might be brothers. Polar bears are seriously into male bonding, to the point that they sometimes seem a bit gay. Like other close polar bear buddies, they would play together for hours then sleep cuddled up together, licking the pads on each others' feet and ever so delicately nibbling the fearsome-looking claws. The researchers decided to call the newcomer "Big Andy".
Big Andy was slow and somewhat clumsy but just huge and immensely powerful. The other bears accepted him as co-alpha male with Charlie and treated him respectfully too. Big Andy, for his part, accepted the researchers and was as tolerant and friendly as Charlie had been, and hung around the camp too. The two bears were just inseparable and the researchers often followed them out onto the ice to observe their hunting technique. None of the other bears would allow the researchers to do this, or generally get near them. Big Andy had one highly unusual trait for a polar bear---he hated to get wet and would walk for miles on land to avoid swimming across a relatively short stretch of water. But he loved to nibble on seaweed, so Charlie would dive down to the bottom and bring it up for his big friend, who would be enthusiastically begging at the edge of the ice. When either bear killed a seal, they would freely share it with their partner.
The researcher was enchanted by his experiences with the two bears and tried to get the area around the station declared a sanctuary to protect them. To his utter and complete horror, the provincial governer decided to remove the researchers from the station and instead allow hunters to kill 20 bears in the general area. The researcher later learned that they just stood in the doorways of the huts and took shots from hiding without any attempt at sportsmanship at all (polar bears have rarely been hunted with sportsmanship). Big Andy and Charlie were almost certainly the first victims and paid with their lives for their trust and friendship in humans.
I know of only one modern researcher who freely walks among polar bears; he is a Russian named Ovsyanikov. Mr. Ovsyanikov has spent 8 years studying the polar bears on Wrangel Island (off the coast of Far Eastern Siberia), at another remote research station on a beach where walruses gather. Numerous bears hang around in the summer when the ice melts and leaves them stranded, hoping to get lucky with one of the walruses. The residence cabin turned out to be one of their favorite hangouts. The first day they were there, they had up to half a dozen polar bears peeping in the windows and sniffing at the door. Finding this too unnerving, Mr. Ovsyanikov and his partner went outside and shooed the bears away from the cabin so that they could put the shutters up. The insatiably curious bears soon came back but the researchers were able to sleep in peace.
Ovsyanikov had a problem. Polar bears were going to be a constant presence and he couldn't just hide in his cabin in dread of them. He worked out an ingenious method of fitting into their society in such a way that they wouldn't make problems for him. He decided to imitate the body language of a really dominant bear. His methods, which he will NOT describe in detail, involve walking with a bad-ass attitude and a big stick. He got the latter idea from the Chukchi natives of Siberia who traditionally fended off the bears with a large walking stick. If pressed by a bear, they would imitate the stabbing motions that a big walrus made in defending himself from attack. Since walruses sometimes kill polar bears (they can weigh up to 2 tons and have an incredibly tough hide, they also have an aggressive temperament), they recognised the motions that the Chukchi made and backed off. Ovsyanikov decided to do the same. He says his methods require a supreme sense of confidence, steely nerves, and a strong understanding of the polar bear communication system. This is why I believe he is reluctant to reveal details of his system, he fears some fool would try it half-heartedly, panic and get munched by the bear. I hope Mr. Ovsyanikov someday plans to give seminars on this, it would be a wonderfully non-violent way to guarantee safety for Arctic explorers.
He interacted with hundreds of bears without any problem over 8 years. He would stride confidently along the beach with his large walking stick, fully expecting any bears in his path to get out of his way, and they would. I have seen many photos showing the bears looking away from him with half-closed eyes, apparently a polar bear way of showing respect. Only on a very few occaisions was his bluff called, and his walrus-like defensive moves stopped the charge. Only once did he have to actually use the stick on a bear, and that was a female with cubs whom he had deliberately and foolishly provoked into attacking. Once she had decided that she had had enough of his harassment, she charged with serious intent. He stopped he only by banging the stick on ground in front of her and poking her hard with it in the nose.
Ovsyanikov became remarkably confident around the bears, but he never let his guard down. He was visited by several polar bears each day, but he would tolerate them as long as they behaved themselves. I have seen photos in his book of bears looking into the windows, peering into the open front door, sleeping on the porch and sneaking into the storeroom in hopes of stealing some goodies. The bears invariably have a shy, sheepish look that shows their deferential attitude towards Ovsyanikov as a supposed dominant alpha male imitation bear. I should point out that Ovsyanikov believes the best way to be around polar bears is the tundra buggies used in Canada, because they cause minimum disturbance for the bears with maximum safety for the visitors. He feels it shows off their natural behavior to best effect and is the simplest way for tourists to see the bears do all their wonderful polar bear things.
Of course, polar bears are not always such nice guys. When they get REALLY hungry, they get REALLY, REALLY fierce, as the Eskimos have long known and dreaded. As with black bears, the great majority of serious attacks involve successful or attempted predation on the part of the bear against a human victim (both black bears and especially grizzlies cause more fatalities than polar bears). Polar bears usually don't show the crazed, obsessive blood-lust to eat human flesh that the rare predacious black bear does. They will instead make a quick grab from ambush. If it succeeds, Yum, yum! If not, oh well, easy come, easy go. This is especially likely to be the case with young, adolescent males who are on their own for the first time with poor hunting skills and big appetites. Curiously, most predacious attacks with black bears involve 3-year-old males too. Unlike the case with black bears, any polar bear will act predatory towards humans if he's hungry enough. The situation was worse in the past when Arctic explorers often wore dark, sealskin clothing just reeking of seal oil and bundled up so they waddled on the ice. They was hardly anything about the men that did not in one way or the other remind the bears of their favorite dinner. You might take a hint from this and wear bright-colored clothing if you go to the Arctic!
Elderly polar bears are likely to more persistent but less effective. Some Greenland researchers were once persistently stalked by a really ancient female who subsequently proved to be more than 30 years old. Skin and bones, worn down teeth and crippled with severe arthritis, she was long past catching a seal, so she hobbled along slowly and painfully after the researchers. They finally shot her after catching her attempting to surreptitiously open the door to their cabin. They didn't want to wait and see if "Granny" would get lucky, and they figured they were doing the starving, pathetic old thing a favor. This is another hint. Keep away from old bears, other polar bears do. Even the alpha males avoid the places where the grouchy, irritable and very unfriendly elders have decided to take their rest.
Researchers have often found the frozen remains of either pathetic young unsuccessful adolescent bears or elderly bears where they made a day-bed for themselves, lay down and quietly waited for death to come. Before they reach such a state of calm resignation, they can get ferocious indeed in trying to obtain food to stay alive. One bear was observed jumping onto the back of a whale. The whale dove down, but soon surfaced with the bear still hanging on and attempting to bite off a mouthful of blubber. Bears actively hunting out on the ice are significantly more predatory and dangerous than those whiling away their time on shore, as Eskimos know. During bad winter storm times, food competion between bears and men would get deadly serious. The polar bears would attempt to steal huskies and waylay travellers, or break in to igloos where Eskimos were sleeping. Even worse, they would sniff out the precious food caches where the Eskimos stored up supplies against hard times and raid them, potentially dooming the whole village to starvation. On the other hand, if the Eskimos successfully hunted the great bears, they could have plentiful food for weeks. A single big bear could save the whole village.
The relationship between the Eskimos and the great white bears is truly profound. It was from the bears that they learned how to live and hunt on the ice, and the bear was the greatest hunting prize they could win. Perhaps this is why they did not begrudge the polar bears too much the occaisional victim they took. It was also customary in the old days to offer the dead and dying to Nanook. They believed that if a bear was eaten by humans, its soul would be reborn as human. Likewise, if a bear ate a human, the human would be reborn as a bear. This belief in the interchange of souls caused the old-time Eskimos to see the bears as equal to men. The Eskimo who still hold to ancient ways are said to have secret knowledge of the great white bear that is theirs alone.
Researchers have occaisionally seen this change of attitude that the bears exhibit when they get really hungry. Some Canadian researchers built an observing tower near the shores of Hudson Bay one summer. After the bears got over their initial curiousity, they quite ignored the tower and its inhabitants. They frolicked and played, made friends, or idly explored and napped, in a typical mellow, friendly, good-natured polar bear way. But that year, the summer continued on and on, and the ice was long delayed in coming back. The bears stopped looking sleek and well-fed. They stopped being friendly and sociable. They got SERIOUSLY hungry and became restless and irritable. Normally, bear researchers find it significantly less scary and tense to work with polar bears than grizzlies, but this time was an exception. The bears started gazing hungrily and longingly at the plump, juicy researchers on the tower. They attempted to climb the tower. Two of them, holding the tower on opposite sides, shook the tower hard in the hopes of shaking down a tasty morsel. Once a photographer was hanging down from the upper framework, when a male suddenly jumped on top of an oil drum then jumped straight up in an almost successful attempt to reach the photographer. The researchers spent the rest of the summer being watchful and wary indeed! One moral that can be drawn from this is you should know what the food situation is like for the bears in an area you intend to explore.
Well, like I said, I really don't intend for you to actually attempt to approach real live polar bears, merely show you how it has been done. You should especially not be tempted to even think of approaching captive polar bears. No other bear loves freedom more than the polar bear and no other bear resents captivity more, nor is any other bear more dangerous in captivity. Circus trainers rate the polar bear as more dangerous than a lion or a tiger. In recent years, zoo polar bears have caused more fatalities than the wild bears. Take warning! Unlike grizzlies which can become as tame as dogs, polar bears in captivity are more dangerous than polar bears in the wild, and they are already plenty dangerous. Don't blame the great white bear though. It is not his fault that he is the greatest carnivore which walks the land. Well-fed and free, he is the the jolliest, genialist, friendliest, most affectionate and playful bear imaginable. The bright side of his spirit is wonderful to behold. But he is also the undisputed King of the Great White North, and knows it. Even the great grizzlies avoid areas where the polar bears roam. I hope you someday get the chance to go to Churchill and ride the tundra buggies out to see him for yourself. I know I would jump at the chance!
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