Wildlife of Canada's Arctic region

Polar bears, arctic foxes, caribou, snowshoe hare, beluga whales, wolves, moose and seals are just some of the animals that thrive in the freezing tundra and pack ice of northern Canada and the Arctic Circle. They have adapted to the seasonal environment and take advantage of both the winters, when much of the bay freezes and polar bears hunt on the ice, and the warmer weather when the ice melts revealing salt marshes that support huge water fowl nurseries. Visitors to the region will also be wowed by the Northern Lights and impressed by the vast, silent, open, untouched spaces. Canada’s polar bears are a dangerous lot and have been known to hunt the gentle beluga whale as well as seals and walruses. Much of this region is too far north and too frozen to have been seriously effected by logging or mining, so 90 percent of it remains in its virgin state. It is only in recent years that concerns about the bay being frozen for shorter periods have caused conservationists to worry about the habitat of these southern most polar bears and their animal contemporaries. The best times to see polar bears is between January and April, the best time for whale watching is between June and August, and the best time to see the Northern Lights is between September and October and January through May.