In the 1980s, a Manitoba town built a polar bear holding facility, and TikToker Literally Unbound (@literallyunbound) gave viewers a peek at what locals have dubbed "polar bear jail."
What's happening?
"Is [polar bear jail] where a polar bear goes to sleep off a bender after a particularly nasty night on the town?" the original poster joked.
"You are actually more right than you might think you are," he continued.
@literallyunbound the polar bear holding facility in Churchill, MB is a particularly unique building, that serves a very important purpose. #polarbear #churchill #wildanimals ♬ original sound - Literally Unbound
The facility was established to protect residents from polar bears that wander into town in search of food.
Churchill, Manitoba, was initially settled in 1717 as part of the fur trade. Atlas Obscura notes that the town is located on what's known as the "polar bear highway," a route that polar bears use each year to migrate from land to sea ice.
Because of this, the town is known as a hotspot for polar bear encounters. In Churchill, it is considered good etiquette to leave car doors unlocked in case anyone needs to find a hiding spot abruptly, according to CBC.
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"Today, we would never put a town here," Churchill conservation officer Chantal Cadger Maclean said, according to Atlas Obscura.
Problem bears are captured and held for days without food — though troughs deliver snow and water — so they can form a negative association with the town before being released, rather than becoming accustomed to human settlements as a food source.
Some TikTok viewers weren't fond of the practice.
"This really rubs me the wrong way," a commenter replied. Others saw it differently.
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Definitely 👍 "This is helping the population, not hurting it," another said.
Why is this important?
As polar bears' habitats shrink due to rising temperatures and land development, encounters between bears and people become more frequent.
It's essential to ensure both bears and people are safe, and to protect the planet's biodiversity by safeguarding the species.
When polar bears associate areas of human habitation with food, they tend to lose their aversion to humans — and polar bears are downright dangerous.
Tragically, the solution to this type of bear conflict often involves exterminating the animals. Chris Servheen, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee, put it simply.
"A fed bear is a dead bear," Servheen told the BBC. The holding facility can spare the bears from that fate.
"The alternative is the bear gets euthanized. So instead of letting it get to that point, we capture the bear," Maclean explained.
What's being done about polar bear encounters?
Churchill's "polar bear jail" is one approach to reducing dangerous human-animal conflicts.
Other methods are also being used, such as monitoring their weight to assess the species' health and using GPS trackers to monitor polar bear movements.
These beautiful, powerful creatures are in danger, and it's up to people to ensure polar bears' survival.
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