Professional wildlife photographer weighs in on decline of Manitoba’s polar bear population

Churchill, Manitoba—known to many as the polar bear capital of the world—has long been one of the rare places where you can safely witness polar bears in the wild, making it a magnet for wildlife lovers, researchers, and photographers alike.

“This is a species at a really high risk of extinction, there are predictions they could be extinct as early as 2100,” said Jason Bantle, photographer and biologist at All in the Wild Photography.

For over 25 years, Bantle has made Churchill and the wider Arctic his second home. What began as a role educating tourists in Churchill has turned into a lifelong mission to document the fragile lives of these iconic animals. However, Bantle says the stories he tells today are no longer just about survival in the cold.

“You now tell a different story—about how their climate is warming and how we’re seeing these bears unable to access the ice like they used to,” said Bantle.

According to Polar Bears International, the Western Hudson Bay polar bear population has dropped dramatically, from 1,200 to roughly 620. Bantle has also observed troubling signs—once-common sightings of mother bears with twins or even triplet cubs are becoming harder to find.

“These moms are going into their dens in poorer condition, so they’re not carrying as many young to full implantation on the uterine wall,” said Bantle.

It’s not just the bears that are changing—it’s also the landscape itself. Bantle says he has experienced the change firsthand.

“Last year when I was on the Arctic ice, I actually burst through the ice in an area that, for the past 10 years, I had no issue with,” said Bantle.

Bantle is hoping the government or large corporations will step up—saying that without intervention soon, the photos may be all that remains.