Churchill newcomers get schooled on polar bears by Parks Canada in regular sessions

Planning to visit Churchill? You may need to sign up for a polar bear information session.

Parks Canada is now in its second season of offering the courses, aimed at keeping newcomers safe around the bears that hang around northern Manitoba town.

"Most of the people that we speak to that are coming here for the first time don't realize the bears are actually near town and not necessarily out on the ice," said Robert Loken, who runs the sessions for Park Canada. "We try to inform those newcomers that you may not think and you may not believe that they're right  around the corner, but … just a week ago there was one coming down Main Street."

Loken said the bears hang around town and hiking trails in the area between May and December, with a heavy migration that goes right through town in October and November.

Locals in the area know bears could be anywhere, Loken said. "They have a respect for the bears," he added.

The polar bear information sessions were started in 2014 after an attack on a woman the year earlier prompted local government to collaborate with the province and Parks Canada on a strategy to keep people safe.

Now, the sessions give information on the biology of the bear and behaviours to look out for and are mainly geared toward people who travel to the area for seasonal work.

"One of the first things that we recommend for all of our visitors, and we do this ourselves … is when people are going into areas is to make noise," he said. "The bear may be laying down in the shrubs or behind a rock and by making noise, they will pop their head up and all of a sudden you will realize there's a bear not far away."

Loken said people are advised to keep a safe distance, keep an eye on the animal to watch its behaviour and move away from it.

"One of the misconceptions again is [to] turn around and run. It may feel like that's the right thing to do, but the noise will also frighten the bear away," said Loken.

He said locals often carry pistols with cracker shells to scare bears.

"They don't injure the bear. They're just like really loud fireworks," he explained.

The sessions run through the summer, and the next one is scheduled for Sept. 27.