Conflict between humans, polar bears on the rise: report

New research shows rising cases of polar bear and human conflict taking place in Churchill, Canada, and the Arctic.

The report, called “Anthropogenic food: An emerging threat to polar bear conservation” and published in the journal ‘Oryx,’ says the increase in conflict is a direct result of climate change and increasing human populations in polar bear habitats.

According to Dr. Martyn Obbard with the Ontario Natural Resources and Forestry Ministry, this is an issue that has been recognized for a long time. However, he noted in the last five to 10 years, there have been more media reports about these kinds of conflicts.

“We realized it was probably time to write an article where we pointed out that this is not simply a phenomenon in Churchill or places in Ontario, for example, but it occurs across the whole range of polar bears,” he said in an interview with CTV Morning Live on Tuesday.

Obbard explained the reason for the increase in conflict has to do with polar bears accessing uncontained garbage dumps. He said that with ice melting earlier in the summer and forming later in the fall, many polar bears are spending more time on land, which increases the chances of them coming into conflict with humans.

“The dump has a tremendous source of smells of human garbage so that attracts bears, that brings them close to town,” Obbard said.

He noted there have been cases of polar bears getting into the dumps and dying, adding that some of these bears have been found to have stomachs filled with plastic bags.

“So a pretty painful way for an animal to die,” he said.

“That’s one issue, and the other is they can ingest toxic materials, such as batteries.”

Obbard said there are ways to ensure polar bears can’t access uncontained dumps, including electrifying them. However, many of the solutions are expensive.

“Our paper was intended to raise awareness to governments…all of these governments really need to come to the table and start tackling this problem.”

- With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace.