Polar bears in your yard? Call the Polar Bear Hotline

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

CHURCHILL, Canada (AFP) — In Churchill, a town of some 1,000 people on the western shore of Hudson Bay, should a polar bear stray into your yard call the Polar Bear Alert Team.

The Polar Bear Hotline's not ringing these days, but the rangers who man the phone here are ready to spring into action when the ice in the bay starts to melt in a few months.

Shaun Bobier, a district supervisor for Manitoba Conservation, is one of six rangers who run the 24-hour-a-day Polar Bear Hotline, fielding calls from homeowners asking them to kindly remove the bear from their garden.

"Basically the function of it is to protect the people and their property in the community of Churchill and the surrounding area as well as to protect the polar bears and prevent undue harassment...