Polar bears, more than any other bear this side of the panda, make you want to snuggle down right next to them for a soft cuddle.
Except, of course, you don’t, a point made forcefully throughout Smithsonian Channel’s six-part series Polar Bear Town, which debuts Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
Polar Bear Town does, however, offer the closest safe alternative, which is a pilgrimage to the town of Churchill, hard by Hudson Bay in Manitoba. All you need to know is that this is way north.
For about two months every fall, maybe a thousand polar bears migrate through and around Churchill, 10,000 tourists migrate there to watch them.
Think of it as an extreme safari park.
Polar Bear Town looks at the whole event through the eyes of people who live in Churchill and who travel to Churchill for those two months to work as polar bear guides.
Plus a few other interesting characters like Brian Ladoon (left), who runs a sanctuary for Canadian Eskimo Dogs.
Canadian Eskimo Dogs are in danger of extinction, so Ladoon’s mission is literally life and death. Because the sanctuary is right on the polar bears’ migratory route, you might think one of the threats to the dogs is that the bears would stop to nosh on a few of them. Roadside snacks.
It turns out, however, that the dogs and the bears get along wonderfully. Unlike people, the dogs really can snuggle up to the bears. Watching these species play around together is fascinating footage.
Still, the show focuses more on the two-legged population of Churchill, a community with about 800 people. Most of them have to make enough money during bear season to survive the rest of the year, and neither bear season nor the other 10 months are without significant challenges.
For starters, Churchill is a town unto itself. There are no roads going in and out. None. Only a railroad. So if you need to bring your truck in or out, you have to pay to have the railroad ship it.
And yes, all supplies for Churchill, from food to gasoline, clothing and ammo, arrive through this complicated, expensive process.
Add in the Canadian winter, which is most of the year, and there’s clearly a great story just in the human beings who choose to live there. Polar Bear Town tells that story engagingly.
For purposes of this series, at least, the common denominator is the bears, for whom the community holds deep, ongoing affection. The local sheriff explains that his game plan during bear season focuses on minimizing potential bear/human interaction while doing everything possible to avoid harming any bears.
That balance was upset the previous year when a bear attacked a woman walking home one evening. While such attacks are mercifully rare, this one served as a reminder that they are always possible when one of the parties in this annual dance is the largest land predator in the world.
Guides talk about getting their clients close enough to feel they really saw the bears while making it very clear no one should expect to saunter up and shoot a selfie.
In the end, Polar Bear Town plays the way it was doubtless intended, as a documentary about mutual respect, prudence, and survival on both the bear and the human sides.
Because polar bears everywhere face an uncertain future, due to climate change and human encroachment, shows like Polar Bear Town can also help illustrate how the fate of all species is linked together. Including our own.