Chapter 17 Polar Bears in Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin: Present Knowledge and Research Opportunities

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses region of Foxe Basin, Hudson Bay, and James Bay that contains three to five relatively discrete subpopulations of polar bears. The details of seasonal movements and subpopulation boundaries are poorly known. Despite the fact that about 200 polar bears are harvested in this area annually by Inuit and Indian hunters, there are no reliable estimates of the size of the total population or of any of the subpopulations. Female polar bears in lower Hudson Bay have shorter breeding intervals and a higher natality rate than do their conspecifics elsewhere in their range. Manitoba, Ontario, and some of the islands in James Bay are the only places where females are known to use earth dens for maternity denning. Polar bears in Hudson Bay and, to a lesser degree, Foxe Basin spend several months ashore during the summer and fall when the annual sea ice melts. During this period, they do little feeding and are mainly inactive to conserve their stored energy until they return to the sea ice after freeze-up to feed on seals. The physiological adaptations to fasting may be important to understanding how the polar bear has evolved to live in a habitat in which climate and food availability are highly variable and unpredictable.