Polar Bear Roundup: This Year's Top 9 Polar Bear Stories

It’s International Polar Bear Day this Thursday – February 27th – and we’re celebrating with an entire Polar Bear Week on the blog!  Each day we’ll feature something new, like polar bear trivia and video, tips on how you can make a difference this International Polar Bear Day, and more.

We’ll also be announcing special events like a Google Hangout and a live Twitter Chat with polar bear experts.  Don’t miss out on updates, make sure to “Like” us on Facebook at WWF Travel and Natural Habitat Adventures, or follow us on Twitter at @World_Wildlife and @NatHab!

To kick off Polar Bear Week, we’ve handpicked a roundup of our favorite polar bear stories and photos from the past year.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

“Tracking Polar Bears at 100-Meet Elsa Bailey!” – Good Nature Travel

Seeing polar bears had always been on 100-year-old Elsa Bailey’s bucket list.  When Natural Habitat Adventures found out, we decided to make her dream come true as a surprise for her 100th birthday.  Read about the polar bear trip that ended up being the journey of a lifetime for the centenarian.

“Polar Bear Season Photography Highlights: Mothers, Cubs, landscapes and Blizzards!” -Alaska Bears and Wolves

Extraordinary photography highlights from Nat Hab guide Brad Josephs’ 2013 polar bear season in Churchill.  He captured so many amazing moments on film, it must have been difficult for him to narrow it down!

“A Polar Bear Airlift,” -WWF

Jon Hoekstra, WWF’s chief scientist, had the opportunity to witness a polar bear being released from Churchill’s “polar bear jail” while on a trip in Churchill, Canada.  Lucky for us, Hoekstra captured the whole thing on film through Google Glass lenses.

“CNN Visits Churchill’s Polar Bears,” -CNN

What happens when a CNN crew joins a bear expedition with Nat Hab’s premier photography guide Brad Josephs?  Watch this video to find out!  It’s safe to say they came home with some great shots.

“Polar Bear Wonderland,” – Green Mountain Exposure

A thrilling recap of the 2013 polar bear season by Nat Hab guide and photographer extraordinaire, Sean Beckett.  Like the photo below?  There’s plenty more where that came from in this article.

“Polar Bear Triplets Frolic In Canada [PHOTOS],” -The Huffington Post

What’s more adorable than a polar bear cub?  Three polar bear cubs!  Photographer Thomas Kokta captured some amazing moments of a set of polar bear triplets and their mother exploring outside their den in Churchill, Manitoba this past January.  Polar bear triplets are an extremely rare occurrence, as females usually only give birth to one or two cubs at a time.

“Leaders Make Commitment to Help Polar Bears,” -WWF

As polar bears made their way back onto the sea ice to hunt for the winter this past December, an international gathering of policy-makers was working to protect the future of the species at the International Polar Bear Forum. Delegates from the US, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Greenland and Russia made promises that they would tackle threats to bears as climate change continues to cause Arctic ice to shrink.

“Decoding Polar Bear Behavior,” -Good Nature Travel

Between 20,000 and 25,000 polar bears roam the arctic today. WWF guest blogger Dean J. Tatooles highlights seven fascinating behaviors to look for when observing polar bears in the wild.

“Snow Safari: Seeing Polar Bears in the Wild,” -Huffington Post

A touching article about why the time to see polar bears is now – by Nat Hab traveler and children’s book author Peter Mandel.  “Polar bears are everywhere. Everywhere, that is, but where they should be: on ice floes in the far, far North. It was time to see these big white guys in the wild before it was too late…”