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NWT - Researchers are finding polar bear den habits in the Beaufort Sea area are likely not to be affected by any resource development projects, specifically the Mackenzie Gas project.

In their third year of the project, researchers with the Western Arctic Unit at Environment Canada have been monitoring den habits of the polar bear population in the Beaufort Sea region. Evan Richardson is a Wildlife Biologist with the Western Arctic Unit at Environment Canada said they are attempting to identify polar bear maternity sites in order to understand the habitats they need to give birth and hopefully protect the areas from possible disruption.

Researchers have been studying the polar bear den habits of the species in the Beaufort Sea, like this den on Hooper Island. Research is showing polar bears are unlikely to be affected by the Mackenzie Gas Project. - NNSL file photo

“Primarily (our research) is focused on what areas are being used by polar bears in the Beaufort Sea,” he said. “In the southern Beaufort Sea the polar bears come off the ice in late October and establish sites to give birth. We’re interested in the areas they are currently using to identify those areas and hopefully protect them.”

Through different facets of research they’ve been able to compile a comprehensive look at den habits in the region.

“We found nine dens in the Mackenzie Delta using our aerial surveys and we had information from radio tracking from satellite collars,” he said. “We also did traditional knowledge interviews with hunters in the region and we were able to find that most of the denning occurs in the outer Mackenzie Delta, away from development activities are going to occur.

“We don’t think development is going to impact survival too much in the region. They’re pretty resilient and we don’t anticipate any negative impacts of the current Mackenzie gas project at this time.” Richardson said the benefit of having traditional knowledge incorporated into the overall study gives them a broader sense of the polar bears in the region.

“The people that live these communities have a significant amount of experience in terms of being out on the land and making different observations of animals and their activities and what sort of habitats they use,” he said. “By integrating the traditional knowledge with the scientific research we’ve been able to come up with a more comprehensive assessment.”

General information and research suggests they den in a general broad area, but not necessarily a specific site each year.

“There is some fidelity to den areas,” he said. “Some of the research we’ve done in the Western Hudson Bay has shown females return to a general area, within 80 square km.”

Richardson said the research is important because the Canadian Wildlife Services is responsible for management of polar bears in Canada and identifying what habitats are important is a key step in their conservation.

Generally, when you’re talking about their dens, they’re giving birth to the next recruits into the population so knowing what kind of habitat they need to do that is important for the population in general,” he said. “For them to persist, females need access (to denning areas) so identifying them is important.”

The project will finish up next year and Richardson said there aren’t any plans for more research to be done, stating it was a more of a short-term study on the den habits.