Today the Town of Churchill finally published the final problem bear reports of the season, which presents an opportunity to do a quick comparison to recent years.
This season lasted 24 weeks, the longest I can remember but apparently only the 5th longest on record. There were a total of 265 incidents by the end of November, more than 100 less than the most recent late-freeze-up year of 2016, which didn’t end until the first week of December (after bears had spent 22 weeks onshore). However, two recent years when freeze-up didn’t come until the end of November (2017 and 2020) had far fewer incidents (more than 100 less each compared to this year).
Last report of the 2023 season
At the end of week 24 (the last week of November, 20-26) all bears in holding were released to return to the rapidly developing sea ice after a total of 265 incidents:
Compare to 2017, last week of November (end of season):
2020, last week of November (end of season):
2016, end of season, first week in December (week 22 that year):
