A handful of full grown adult Polar bears from Canada’s Arctic have been introduced to the Athabasca Glacier in Banff National Park’s Columbia Icefield.
After waiting years for final approval from Parks Canada, 8 full grown adult polar bears have been permanently relocated from the melting polar ice cap in the Canadian Arctic. They have been moved to a more stable ice mass on Canada’s most visited slab of ice, the Athabasca Glacier in Banff National Park.
This exciting new addition is anticipated to completely restart Alberta’s struggling tourism industry. A large influx of visitors from all over the world are expected to flock to the Columbia Icefield located just off Banff’s legendary Icefield’s Parkway.
“We got bored of driving up the glacier every day just to watch the ice melt. Now we can operate more like a safari so visitors can watch the polar bears happily playing on the ice.” said one of the Australian tour bus drivers.
Experts say due to the ever melting polar ice cap, the polar bears will feel even more at home on the year-round glacial ice here in Alberta than in their natural habitat in the Arctic. This is a monumental day for the future of polar bears.
“I can’t wait to get a selfie with a real live polar bear” said a nearby tourist. “I’ve got selfies with all sorts of other dangerous wildlife but so far no polar bears!”
Arctic feeding seals have been brought in to provide the bears with a nutritous and environmentally sustainable natural food source. These seals will be kept in newly created state-of-the-art Arctic seal spawning tanks located in the basement of The Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre.
Animal rights protesters applaud the decision to create the ultra-humane natural feeding system for the polar bears. “The seals look so happy in their tanks” said a well-known local protester.
“We thought out every possible safety scenario and fully expect the bears to stay localized on the glacier” said a Parks Canada official. He mentioned there is absolutely no risk to visitors of the glacier but still recommends tourists carry bear spray.
Experts are hopeful the bears will quickly reproduce in their new and improved environment. They say that once the population increases too much, they plan to move the excess polar bears to inhabit the other glaciers in the area.
The ticket price for the snow coach tours will only increase $120. This is said to be an absolutely tiny amount considering the priceless value that the polar bear tours will provide.
As of today April 1st, almost all the tickets have been sold out.
