Scientists try new way to tackle rising human encounters with polar bears

Climate change has increased the chances of encountering a polar bear (Picture: PA) A team of international experts has been testing “doorbell cameras” that use artificial intelligence to warn of approaching polar bears amid the growing risk of human encounters. The new tool is among several solutions being developed by conservation group Polar Bears International to protect both people and polar bears as the impacts of climate change increase the likelihood of dangerous encounters.

Called Bear-vision, the device builds on so-called Bear-dar technology, which combines radar and cameras to sense motion in the surrounding Arctic landscape, then identify and monitor animals nearby. The organisation said the Bear-vision tool will offer an affordable and easy-to-use early warning system that can alert homes and businesses to approaching bears. The experts are currently deploying the first Bear-vision system at a waste facility in Churchill, a northern town on the coast of Hudson Bay in the Canadian province of Manitoba.

The new technology can help people stay safe (Picture: PA) The aim is to help the community manage and monitor the area, especially as polar bears gather nearby to wait for the Hudson Bay to freeze over so that they can hunt seals, and thousands of tourists arrive to see them. The annual Polar Bear Week 2026, hosted by Polar Bear International, kicks off on Sunday to coincide with the gathering of the bears. The organisation said the animals are now stuck waiting on land for about a month longer than their grandparents did because of climate-driven ice loss.

This means measures to ensure safe coexistence between the town and the animals are becoming increasingly important, it added. Krista Wright, executive director of Polar Bears International, said: ‘We’re grateful to the Churchill community, who we’ve been honoured to work with over the decades on human-polar bear co-existence, ensuring that conservation benefits not just wildlife but the community too. ‘We’re experiencing first-hand how co-existence is becoming part of everyday life in more places.’

Elsewhere, the conservation group is exploring other novel methods to safely ward off bears, including drones. Polar Bear International and Brigham Young University are collaborating with Churchill’s Polar Bear Alert Programme to test drones as an affordable and non-lethal way to move bears away from communities safely. This deterrent research project is also testing ultrasonic sound, conductive materials, and a new odour-based bear spray formula.

Polar Bear International said the doorbell camera technology was being tested at the Churchill waste dump to keep polar bears away from the facility. It comes after a fire destroyed the site in 2024, which led to bears pawing through the rubbish to find food and causing concerns about hungry polar bears not only ingesting toxic rubbish but then being attracted by the smell of food waste. The team has also installed new electric fences, deployed its Bear-dar technology and sent a group of its experts from Churchill to tour a similar waste management facility in Greenland.