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One Polar Bear for Every Five Citizens
These Dangerous Predators Are Now Permanent Guests in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada!
By Peter Baunmartner
The number 675-2327 is the most important telephone number in Churchill. Every one of the 1,000 citizens has memorized this number. But also a lot of the tourists know this number – after all, it is often written on many of the warning signs in and around this little town on the shores of Hudson Bay. The telephone line is manned 24 hours a day. It is more important than the police, rescue or fire department numbers. See, 675-2327 is the number of the Polar Bear Police – the only one of its kind in Churchill, Manitoba in the northeastern part of Canada. 
Churchhill is the polar bear capital. Every November the citizens of Churchill have to share their living space with about 200 polar bears. This can, at times, be dangerous. Despite their lovable and playful appearance, polar bears are considered to be one of the most dangerous predators on earth. They are quick, strong and unpredictable, and they will attack without warning.
We flew in a small airplane in the early morning hours, accompanied by a Frontiers North escort from Winnipeg to Churchill. Churchill, established in 1717 by the famous Hudson Bay Company, is somewhat isolated. By plane the distance is 600 kilometers. By train, it's 1600 kilometers, and it's 26 long hours before hitting any larger town. There is no road to Churchill – it ends about 350 kilometers south at Gilliam.
Even though Churchill lies merely on the 59th Parallel, approximately level with Oslo, we are deep in the arctic polar territory, the land of perma-frost. Here on Hudson Bay there is no warm Gulf stream. Winter lasts from October/November straight through to July.