ITTOQQORTOORMIIT: POLAR BEAR INVASION

In the remote Greenlandic settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit, climate change is forcing polar bears off the sea ice and into town. Every morning the town patrols for polar bears, but the issue is complicated by hunting quotas and the settlement’s relationship with distant Copenhagen.

 
Ittoqqortormit, a remote settlement in Eastern Greenland, is only accessible by helicopter. As the sea ice around Ittoqqortoormiit diminishes, polar bears are spending longer on land and coming into town.
Åge Hammeken Danielsen, a Ittoqqortoormiit commercial hunter, drives his sled dogs through Walrus Bay. Åge’s village has a quota of 35 polar bears to kill each year, but he says this is too low and that too many polar bears come into his village.
Johan Aaqqii hunts for seals in the semi-frozen ocean around Ittoqqortoormiit. Seals are the only main hunting species without quota restrictions.
Johan Aaqqii hunts for seals in the semi frozen ocean around Ittoqqortoormiit. Seals are the only main hunting species without quota restrictions.
Sukhat Arge hunts for seals in the semi-frozen ocean around Ittoqqortoormiit. Seals are the only main hunting species without quota restrictions. East Greenland.
Greenlandic sled dogs eating seal meat in Ittoqqoortoormiit, East Greenland.
Scoresby Hammeken prepares a meal of seal soup at his home in Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland. Increasing numbers of polar bears are coming into Ittoqqortoormiit, posing a risk to human lives.
The sea outside Ittoqqortoormiit freezing over. The ice is arriving later now as a result of climate change. The lack of ice makes it harder for polar bears to find food. East Greenland.
Young children play in the snow in Ittoqqortoormiit. School runs through to 16 years old, after that young adults need to leave for Nuuk for further education. Most don't return. East Greenland.
Ittoqqortoomiit Polar Bear Invasion-10.jpg
Åge's village has a quota of 35 polar bears to kill each year. He says the quota is too low and that there are too many polar bears coming into his village. East Greenland.
Åge Hammeken Danielsen holds the skin of a polar bear. He has a quota of 35 polar bears to kill each year, but says the quota is too low and that there are too many polar bears coming into his village. East Greenland.
Kaare Winther Hansen and Erling Madsen train up new recruit Emil Evalo Arge for the polar bear patrol. Ittoqqortoormiit, East Greenland.
Kaare Winther Hansen and Torben Klose respond to a potential polar bear sighting near the weather station in Ittoqqortoormiit, East Greenland.
Erling Madsen and Kaare Winther Hansen on the polar bear patrol, checking the village for polar bears before the day begins. Ittoqqortoormiit, East Greenland.
Every morning the polar bear patrol, here Erling Madsen and Kaare Winther Hansen, does a lap of the village checking for polar bears before kids go to school and people start going to work. Ittoqqortoormiit, East Greenland.
Kaare Winther Hansen uses a thermal camera to check the area around the weather station in response to a potential polar bear sighting in Ittoqqortoormiit, East Greenland.
Torben Klose, the only full-time police officer in Ittoqqortoormiit, responds to a potential polar bear sighting near the weather station in Ittoqqortoormiit, East Greenland.
 
 

Ice is a defining factor in Ittoqqortoormiit, a village of just over 350 on the eastern coast of Greenland. Nine months of the year, sea ice closes in when the ocean freezes, and the only way in or out is by helicopter—including for vital supplies and food, which can be brought in by ship just twice a year when the ice breaks up in summer. Inhabitants of Ittoqqortoormiit depend on the hard surface of the ice, on which they hunt—key to survival in this remote outpost, given the lack of wild edible plants and agriculture—and get around, often by dogsled.

But the ice is changing. Erik Pedersen, who runs the local meteorological station and sends a weather balloon up twice a day to measure air temperature, wind speed, and direction, has recorded steadily increasing temperatures, which directly impact the ice: “Over the past two years, the ice has broken up in the spring much earlier than normal,” he says. In February 2018, Pedersen recorded temperatures almost 11°C warmer than normal: -6°C compared to -17°C.

For those who depend on subsistence hunting or fishing, this change is making life more dangerous. And with few alternative livelihoods available, young people are leaving Ittoqqortoormiit to continue their educations and seek jobs elsewhere. Few return.

Warming temperatures and shrinking sea ice also make hunting more challenging for polar bears, forcing them ever closer to Ittoqqortoormiit and increasing the rate of conflict with villagers. Residents report polar bears sleeping near their homes as they try to send children off to school in the morning, and class outings can be dangerous.

To help protect those living in this remote area and reduce the instances of humans killing bears in self-defense, WWF worked with the village to launch a polar bear patrol in 2015. Manned by government hunting officer Erling Madsen and other community members, and assisted by WWF project manager Kaare Winther Hansen, the patrol responds to sightings and checks the village for bears each morning before residents head out for school and work. Using a variety of techniques like the roar of a vehicle to scare off bears, the team has managed to prevent more than 75 bears from entering the village since patrols began. These efforts help deter the bears from coming back; bears who return again and again are more likely to be killed.