In polar bear capital of world, community lives with predator next door

There are about 600 polar bears in this Western Hudson Bay population, about half what it was 40 years ago

It's the beginning of polar bear season in Churchill, a tiny town on a spit of land jutting into Hudson Bay, and keeping tourists safe from hungry and sometimes fierce bears is an essential job for Van Nest and many others. And it's become harder as climate change shrinks the Arctic sea ice the bears depend on to hunt, forcing them to prowl inland earlier and more often in search of food, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, a group of scientists that tracks how endangered species are. "You're seeing more bears because there are more bears on the land for longer periods of time to be seen" and they are willing to take more risks, getting closer to people, said Polar Bears International research & policy director Geoff York. There are about 600 polar bears in this Western Hudson Bay population, about half what it was 40 years ago, but that's still close to one bear for every resident of Churchill.