Where to See Bears on Tour with WWF
Oct 14th, 2009 by wwftravel
Brown bears congregate to fish for salmon in brisk Alaskan rivers. © Kevin Schafer/WWF-Canon
WWF remains the primary international conservation organization protecting pandas in the wild. But it also works to protect a variety of other bears, too — from polar bears moving majestically across the ice along Canada’s Hudson Bay, brown bears gorging on salmon in brisk Alaskan rivers to an unusual small bear that walks pigeon-toed through dense rain forests in Borneo.
You have several opportunities to look for bears in their natural habitat on WWF tours in 2010. Among them:
Kodiak bears: Though related, Kodiak bears are a different genetic subspecies than Alaska’s other brown bears and live on the many islands of the Kodiak Archipelago. They can grow to be the same size as polar bears. Look for Kodiak bears during the first-segment of our two-part Northern Ring of Fire voyage, July 25 – August 11, 2010.
Grizzly bears: Normally solo travelers, grizzlies congregate at streams, lakes, rivers and ponds during the salmon spawn to fill their bellies. Found in large numbers on the Alaskan Peninsula and in Katmai National Park, grizzly bears in the northernmost state are more than twice as large as their counterparts in the Canadian Yukon. Search for grizzlies on one of several summertime trips to Alaska: Exploring Alaska’s Coastal Wilderness, Kenai Adventure or Backcountry Alaska.
Giant pandas: Pandas are found only in the temperate forests of China. Although classified as a carnivore, the panda’s diet consists almost exclusively of bamboo. Despite being one of the most popular animals in the world, pandas are threatened by habitat fragmentation and unsustainable development. It is estimated that as few as 1,600 pandas remain in the wild today. See giant pandas on our China for Families tour, June 26-July 6, 2010.
A researcher at a panda breeding center in Chengdu, China, cares for a newborn © Michel Gunther / WWF-Canon
Polar bears: With adult males weighing up to 1,430 pounds and growing as much as nine feet in length, polar bears are the world’s largest terrestrial carnivores. As a result of climate change, sea ice is melting earlier and forming later each year, leaving polar bears less time to hunt. As their ice habitat shrinks, skinnier and hungrier bears face a grave challenge to their survival. Observe polar bears from the safety of heated tundra vehicles during a Polar Bears of Churchill tour, October – November 2010.
Malayan sun bears: The sun bear, meanwhile, is the smallest member of the bear family, weighing between 40 and 130 pounds. Primarily nocturnal and not a hibernator, the sun bear occupies lowland tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia. Primarily brown-black in color, the bear gets its name comes from horseshoe-shaped, pale yellow-orange markings on its chest and face. The bear is classified as a vulnerable species. Search rain forests for the Malayan sun bear on our Wild Borneo outing, June 4-20, 2010.
Learn more about WWF tours through bear habitat.
