The park has thousands of white bears

CANADA Polar bears at Wapusk Park often leave the cave in March to begin a journey to hunt seals

Wapusk National Park is a place where you can see polar bears. Wapusk's name is derived from wâpask in Cree, which means white bear.

The park is 11,475 km2, located in a remote area in the province of Manitoba. The park was founded in 1996 to protect the habitat of a thousand individuals of polar bears, around Hudson Bay.

Polar bears have 2 dense and hollow hairs and 10 cm of subcutaneous adipose tissue, which can be adapted to harsh living conditions. They possess incredible hearing, smell and sight. Therefore, polar bears can detect seals (prey) as far as 1.6 km, even when they are one meter deep in the snow.

A pregnant couple came out of the cave after 4 months of hibernation. Baby cubs are born about 30-25 cm long and weigh more than half a pound. The bear family left the cave in early March, at which time the seals were breeding. This means that bears will have an abundance of food.

Polar bears are often twins, sometimes born 3. On the photo is the moment when the mother bear cuddles her cubs at rest, before going to the ice to hunt seals. Little bears spend 24 to 26 months with their mothers. They will now learn to defend and hunt.

Wapusk National Park with its rich black and white spruce trees is the ideal home and playground for young polar bears. Coming here in February, March and November, visitors will have the opportunity to see bears in the tundra area.

Bears are at the top of the Arctic food chain, in which seals make up 90% of their diet. Polar bears are not afraid of any other species, except humans. They can become prey on the hunt of Arctic tribes such as Inuit, Yupik, Chukchi and Nenets. However, they only maintain their hunting form to survive, not affecting bear populations.

Today, scientists warn about a decrease in the number of polar bears. They may die of starvation, cannibalism and drowning due to melting ice.

In 1979, NASA recorded changes in the polar region. Ice forms more slowly and also melts faster. So pregnant bears will have less time to hunt, before hibernating. Young bears are born lighter and struggle with harsh conditions outside when leaving the cave.

To visit Wapusk National Park, you can go to the office in the registered town of Churchill. Calm Air has routes to it from the cities of Winnipeg, Thompson, Manitoba. In addition, visitors can travel by train via Viarail system.

Tourists are encouraged to use a guided tour of licensed companies such as Frontiers North Adventures and Wat'chee Expeditions.

In addition, you can also take part in aerial tours, sightseeing from helicopters. Service providers at Wapusk are Hudson Ba Helicopters and Custom Helicopters.