http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/03/03/north-bears.html
Nunavut seeks meeting with Manitoba over polar bears
Last Updated: Monday, March 3, 2008 | 4:37 PM CT
CBC News
Nunavut's environment minister says he wants to meet with his Manitoba counterpart to discuss polar bears in the western Hudson Bay area following concerns raised last week by Arviat MLA David Alagalak.
Alagalak said hunters there believe tourism practices around Churchill, Man., may be leading to fewer, thinner, less healthy polar bears in his region. That's in contrast to how they looked before: "a nice look, like nice and fat and healthy and strong," he said Friday.
Scientists have said that the bears have seen a drop in weight, health and population due to shrinking sea ice that is going out earlier and coming in later, leaving starving bears on the shore.
But residents in and around Arviat believe polar bears are also following tourism activities in Churchill, especially the smells coming from tourists and operators, Alagalak said.
As a result, he added, the bears are lingering in Churchill instead of migrating north, where the ice comes in earlier and they put on weight by hunting for more nutritious food.
"They're trying to wait out for the people to leave to try and find what they're smelling … maybe it's causing the bears to lose fat," Alagalak said.
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Environment Minister Olayuk Akesuk said Nunavut has a good relationship with Manitoba, and plans to meet soon with Manitoba Environment Minister Stan Struthers to talk about Alagalak's concerns and other polar bear-related issues.
"I want to do that as soon possible, just to make sure that we are working together," Akesuk said.
"We've always tried to worked with them very closely. There's a co-management agreement that we want to make sure that is in place for us and for our people."
Senior government officials say Nunavut is in discussions with Manitoba and other jurisdictions to try to develop a Canada-wide polar bear management agreement. A draft has been prepared and is expected to be finalized this year.
Last month, Manitoba designated the polar bear as a "threatened" species there, meaning the provincial government can restrict development on the bears' habitat on both Crown and privately-owned land along the province's Hudson Bay coastline.