ABSTRACT

Canada is home to approximately 15,500 of the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears in global polar regions (Environment Canada 2009). Given that 13 of 19 subpopulations of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are found either wholly or partially in Canada, it is not surprising that a number of destinations along the coast of Hudson Bay, James Bay in Nunavik (Northern Quebec), Ontario, Manitoba, and Nunavut have developed tourism opportunities to view the three populations found in these areas (i.e., Western Hudson Bay, Southern Hudson Bay, Foxe Basin). As the self-declared ‘polar bear capital of the world’, Churchill in northern Manitoba is perhaps the most well-known place to view polar bears, but other viewing locations include the aptly named Polar Bear Provincial Park in Ontario and, to the north, Ukkusiksalik National Park in Nunavut. However, due to climate change it is widely thought that polar bears in this region (and elsewhere) are in a period of transformation with future prospects that are described as ‘grim’ (Vongraven 2009: 326). As Derocher et al. (2004: 173) indicates, polar bears are ‘vulnerable’ to habitat change induced by climate warming. The consequent rush of tourists to view polar bears in their natural environment, before they are gone for good, is perhaps one of the most obvious examples of the last chance tourism phenomenon (Lemelin, Dawson, Stewart, Maher, and Lück 2010a; Dawson et al. 2010).