Inside Nature’s Giants – The Polar Bear

4th July 2011

The pioneering Channel 4 documentary that gets under the skin of our planet’s largest animals returned to our screens last week to take a closer look at the mighty polar bear.

As the Inside Nature’s Giants team joined forces with a group of Inuit hunters and scientists off the coast of Greenland, these majestic bears are a poignant reminder of the climate change challenges we are facing in our lifetime. As the Arctic’s apex predator, they are especially vulnerable to the effects of manmade pollution.

Keen to unravel yet more mysteries and find out if polar bears will be able to adapt to their rapidly changing environment, the team carried out an anatomical dissection on a freshly hunted polar bear. Examining everything from its dense, transparent fur to blood and tissue samples, the team also questioned how polar bears manage to live on such a high-fat diet of blubber without risking heart failure.

This groundbreaking show certainly makes for compelling viewing however; it does not compare to the feeling that comes with a real life polar bear encounter out in the Arctic wilderness.

Led by polar enthusiast and award-winning photographer Paul Goldstein, our exclusive Polar Bear Photographic Charters are the ultimate polar bear pilgrimages. Maximising the 24-hour daylight, Paul works relentlessly to ensure magical moments with polar bears are commonplace (though never guaranteed!) during these epic polar cruises.

If you missed it, catch up on Inside Nature’s Giants polar bear episode on 4OD here.