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KIMMIRUT - Nunavut's lead scientist at studying polar bears will be touring the communities around Foxe Basin to talk about her upcoming research into the polar bear population.

Seemeega Aqpik, manager of Kimmirut's Mayukalik Hunters and Trappers Organization, said he had heard from members who were concerned about bears being handled. But Aqpik acknowledged the necessity of scientific research into the polar bear population.

Nunavut's lead polar bear researcher Lily Peacock, centre, draws a sample from a sedated polar bear in 2007. - photo courtesy of Lily Peacock

"We have to show the world that our (polar bear) population is healthy," he said.

It's been almost 20 years since the population survey of the polar bears in Foxe Basin, and it's due, according to Government of Nunavut wildlife biologist Lily Peacock.

“We are under a lot of pressure from the world, from the federal government to produce this data," she said.

"We have to defend the Inuit right to harvest, to show it's sustainable. It's our duty as the government of Nunavut, but we have a duty under the land claims to consult Inuit in the process and include their values. That means handling bears as little as we can."

Nunavut's Department of the Environment did consultations with the intent of starting the survey last year but held off because of community concerns. The research will take advantage of new technology, which will make it easier and cheaper to count polar bears and tranquilize them less in the future.

The new gizmos are called "radio frequency identification" tags, or RFID tags for short. They are not much larger than a nine-volt battery and can be attached to a polar bear as an ear tag. They each broadcast a different identification number by radio so bears can be identified individually.

Peacock compared the tags to the bar code on groceries, identified by a scanner. A plane or helicopter overhead can read the radio signature of each tag and identify the bear. This would make polar bear population research much less invasive in the long run. Peacock hopes to tag as many bears as she is allowed so she can keep track of their numbers without having to capture them again in the future.

Until now the method has been to capture and tag the bears and then re-capture them in later years to see how many of the tagged bears are still around. Each time a bear is captured, it has to be sedated with drugs.

The communities which harvest from the Foxe Basin bears are Iglulik, Kimmirut, Repulse Bay, Hall Beach, Coral Harbour and Cape Dorset. Most will be consulted in April, but some have already met with Peacock to discuss the issue. Peacock wouldn't say how many bears she hopes to capture and fit with RFID tags because that number will come out of consultations with the communities.

Aqpik said the Mayukalik HTO board has not yet decided whether to support the research in Foxe Basin. Many hunters are concerned about the tranquilizers the scientists use to subdue the bears.

Until recently Health Canada recommended polar bear flesh not be eaten for a year after use of a tranquilizer. Last month Health Canada changed that number to 45 days. The huge change has many Inuit hunters suspicious that the 45-day period is too short and unsafe, despite what scientists say.

Peacock said she understood why hunters worry; the change in the recommended time was so huge that it seems unrealistic to the average person.

She said the one-year period had been excessive and did not take into account the research on the subject, and that even a 45-day wait is playing very safe. "Drug levels are undetectable within the muscle tissues in three days," Peacock said.

Peacock also said the tranquilizer currently used, called Zolatil or Telazol, is very safe for the bears, and is the same drug veterinarians use to calm cats and dogs.

In Alaska, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service states polar bears are safe to eat 14 days after they have been drugged.