That is how close the Wapusk National Park on the Hudson Bay is to the Arctic Circle.
Only very close to the polar regions, north and south, do these lights appear.
Up here in the so-called ice cellar of North America, summer lasts only a few short weeks.
The rest of the time, a beautifully romantic but bitter cold winter keeps the landscape in its icy grip.
But even here, the fact that global warming is melting the polar ice caps leaves observable tracks.
The summers begin earlier and the time the polar bears in the national park have to build up sufficient fat reserves for the summer is shorter.
The bears in the park are under strict environmental protection.
For the bears, the change in the climate means that over the longer term, they may no longer be able to travel over the pack ice to take seals and walruses by surprise at the air holes they maintain in the ice.
Although the bears are excellent swimmers, they are rarely able to catch prey in the water.
Hunger drives them closer and closer to human settlements and conflicts are unavoidable.
As cute and cuddly as polar bears might appear, they are systematic hunters and make no distinction between animal and human in their search for food.
By the way, polar bears are not nearly as nomadic as had been previously thought.
The Wapusk National Park is the largest birth cave area for polar bears in the entire Arctic.
After about eight months pregnancy, polar bears give birth to their young during the winter.
Breeding takes place during a very short one-week period between March and June.
Polar bear cubs are not much larger than a cat or a rabbit at birth.
But already after about eight weeks, they can weigh up to 15 kilograms.
Even at that size, they are still nursed by their mothers.
That can last up to about two and a half years.
Shortly after the cubs are weaned, the mother leaves them to fend for themselves.
As a rule, only one of them will survive to adulthood.
[gentle music][gentle music] The playful sparring and tussling is part of the animal's training program and serves to practice hunting skills.
[lion roaring]
That is how close the Wapusk National Park on the Hudson Bay is to the Arctic Circle.
Only very close to the polar regions, north and south, do these lights appear.
Up here in the so-called ice cellar of North America, summer lasts only a few short weeks.
The rest of the time, a beautifully romantic but bitter cold winter keeps the landscape in its icy grip.
But even here, the fact that global warming is melting the polar ice caps leaves observable tracks.
The summers begin earlier and the time the polar bears in the national park have to build up sufficient fat reserves for the summer is shorter.
The bears in the park are under strict environmental protection.
For the bears, the change in the climate means that over the longer term, they may no longer be able to travel over the pack ice to take seals and walruses by surprise at the air holes they maintain in the ice.
Although the bears are excellent swimmers, they are rarely able to catch prey in the water.
Hunger drives them closer and closer to human settlements and conflicts are unavoidable.
As cute and cuddly as polar bears might appear, they are systematic hunters and make no distinction between animal and human in their search for food.
By the way, polar bears are not nearly as nomadic as had been previously thought.
The Wapusk National Park is the largest birth cave area for polar bears in the entire Arctic.
After about eight months pregnancy, polar bears give birth to their young during the winter.
Breeding takes place during a very short one-week period between March and June.
Polar bear cubs are not much larger than a cat or a rabbit at birth.
But already after about eight weeks, they can weigh up to 15 kilograms.
Even at that size, they are still nursed by their mothers.
That can last up to about two and a half years.
Shortly after the cubs are weaned, the mother leaves them to fend for themselves.
As a rule, only one of them will survive to adulthood.
[gentle music][gentle music] The playful sparring and tussling is part of the animal's training program and serves to practice hunting skills.
[lion roaring]
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