Posts by: Peter Ewins

Canadian Polar Bear populations

Some recent reports on survey results suggest that the polar bear subpopulation in Western Hudson Bay is healthier than previously believed. For many, this has created some confusion: are polar bears out of danger there? The short answer is no.

April 08, 2012
Posted by Peter Ewins

Giant Panda on two wheels

Our panda took part in Toronto’s symbolic ‘Coldest Day of the Year Ride’ cycling event this morning.

January 30, 2012
Posted by Peter Ewins

Polar Bears on Standby

I’m up early again – something I got really into as a kid, when I realized that most of the interesting behavioural things in the animal kingdom happened well before humans were up and about!

November 12, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Polar Bears are the talk of Iqaluit: 2011 Polar Bear Range States Meeting

It was late October in Iqaluit, capital of Nunavut, and 8 hours after leaving my balmy Toronto neighbourhood, I was skidding down Iqaluit’s icy runway in the First Air jet from Ottawa.

November 03, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Tracking narwhals

In mid-August 2011, representatives from WWF Canada worked with a 15-person field crew to fit satellite tags to a number of narwhals in the region of North Baffin Island, Canada.

October 21, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Getting people and polar bears to live in harmony

At the end of August, I visited Arviat, on the SW Hudson Bay coast, and one of the conservation projects WWF is doing with Inuit communities.

September 15, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Where do the Narwhal go?

It’s totally true that I have one of the best ‘jobs’ in the world, and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity, and very proud to be able to represent WWF in such work.

September 12, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Our blue planet: looking backwards from space – and forward…..

As the Opel Project Earth expedition kicked-off in Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier, my colleague Martin von Mirbach and I were deeply honored to spend an evening with Dr. Buzz Aldrin, the 14 Project Earth students, singer-songwriter Katia Melua, and Udloriak Hanson, special advisor to Mary Simon, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

July 22, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

The life of the WWF conservation crew: Not always glamorous, but always important work

On the conservation team at WWF, we often get that dreamy-eyed look from members, wishing that they could do our jobs to help protect wildlife! And occasionally, we have to admit, we do get out to help with some fantastic field conservation projects (some of which you may have seen covered on this blog). But now we want to give you a peek into our more routine, day-to-day work – this time a high-level, multi-stakeholder committee providing advice on protection measures for Canada’s wildlife species at risk.

June 16, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

In the first person: Pete Ewins of WWF-Canada

Dr. Peter Ewins, Director of Species Conservation at WWF Canada, reflects on his work with the WWF Global Arctic Programme – and how important it is to assure a decent future for people who live in the Arctic.

June 13, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Polar bear team update: Its all about energy

Breakfast at 0700 h, then out in the tracked vehicles again, trundling over 1-2 inches of fresh snow, towards the south end of Fletcher Lake at the edge of Wapusk National Park.

March 15, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Polar bear team update: Today on the tundra

Rhys and I awoke to a crystal clear dawn, a numbing -40C again, and the excitement of reconnecting with the female polar bear and her single cub that we had left at sunset yesterday evening. After one of cook Daryl’s splendid tundra breakfasts at Wat’chee lodge, we headed out in the tracked vehicles with top-notch photographers from around the world, and the ABC news crew.

March 14, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Update from polar bear team: Train to Chesney

This is Churchill train station (also the Parks Canada main office), where we took the 8 p.m. train south to Chesney.

March 11, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Heading north as polar bears emerge from snow dens

It’s 0530 and my WWF-US colleague Rhys Gerholdt and I are with an ABC News crew from New York, heading up to Wapusk National Park and the world’s largest concentration of maternity dens for polar bears.

March 10, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins

Polar bear population in Western Hudson Bay unlikely to survive climate disruption

A new paper published in the journal Nature Communications shows that further reduction in annual ice cover in Western Hudson Bay is projected to seriously reduce cub production by female polar bears, due to far greater difficulty they would have to access food and to store sufficient energy to carry successful pregnancies and produce cubs.

February 10, 2011
Posted by Peter Ewins
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