Churchill Wildlife Sightings
Each year we keep a running tally of all the wildlife we see during our Tundra Buggy excursions into the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. We do this so we can compare year over year how much wildlife we see in order to have an understanding of how populations in the north are faring, and so that we can share with our guests what they might expect to see when they join us on a Tundra Buggy excursion. Note that these are the number of sightings, not the number of individual animals.
Below is our list of top ten wildlife sightings recorded in 2016. For comparison, check out our 2015 Top Ten List.
Top Ten Wildlife Sightings in 2016
1. Polar Bears: 566
©Hannah Davies
2. Willow Ptarmigan: 556
©JP McCarthy
3. Snow Bunting*: 400+
©Alex Mueller
4. Snow Goose: 100+
©Frontiers North Adventures
5. Canada Goose*: 100+
©Frontiers North Adventures
6. Caribou: 54
©Jim Baldwin
7. Arctic Fox: 27
8. Arctic Hare: 20
©Doug Ross
9. Eider Duck: 20
©Andreas Trepte/Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 2.5]
10. Tundra Swan: 12
©Jim Baldwin
Honourable Mention - Snowy Owl: 8
©Carol D.
*Often these birds fly in flocks that are too large to count, so our guides and drivers give a rough estimate of numbers rather than an exact number.
Main image: ©Chelsea Davis