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Agreements, Legislation, and Policy for
the Protection of Polar Bears in Manitoba
Manitoba and Canada are party to a number of agreements
respecting the protection of polar bears and Manitoba has a robust
legislative and policy framework in place for the protection of
polar bears and residents of Churchill, the only community where
bears and people routinely interact.
The Government of Manitoba actively participates in the
management of the polar bears' welfare through provincial programs
or cooperative programs with other jurisdictions.
Manitoba Conservation must occasionally remove polar bears from
Churchill to protect life and property and must balance
conflicting public opinion regarding placement in zoos and animal
welfare.
The donation of Manitoba Polar Bears to zoos is currently
managed by the 1998 policy and procedure directive that
stipulates holding facility and animal husbandry standards
required to be eligible to receive a bear from Manitoba, and
places restrictions on transferring animals to another
facility. Regulations under the new Act will be drafted before
the end of 2002 and will replace the existing policy when the
Act is proclaimed.
A foster parenting study, conducted in conjunction
with Manitoba Conservation by a British animal welfare
organization called The Born Free Foundation, has been taking
place in the Churchill area since 2000/2001 to determine if
female bears with one healthy cub will accept a second
orphaned cub. One orphaned cub was successfully placed with a
surrogate mother in the fall of 2001 but several other
attempted placements failed. If this program can be made to be
successful, Manitoba may never have another orphaned cub to
place in a zoo. It should be remembered that the only
alternative to fostering or zoo placement is euthanasia as
orphaned cubs are unable to survive on their own.
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