"The 900 residents of the Manitoba town have learned to share their streets on the edge of the Arctic with the huge animals and the eager tourists who come to see them".
"Perched on the southern edge of the Arctic on the shores of Hudson Bay, residents of the Canadian town of Churchill share their streets with the world’s largest land carnivore. Their regular encounters with polar bears have earned Churchill the nickname “Polar bear capital of the world”.
The bears inhabit the sea ice, but in summer, when the ice melts, they come ashore to await the next freeze in November. By October, several hundred are wandering in anticipation towards the bay. Their path takes them past, and sometimes directly through, Churchill.
The 900 or so residents are used to looking cautiously around corners and not walking after dark. But it’s the bears that could claim to have a grievance: the town was built on their annual migratory route."
Zed Nelson reports with photographs for the Guardian April 10, 2023.
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