Mara: It is a great pleasure to introduce Charles Frigid to his many fans around the world. Thank you Charles for taking time from your busy schedule to talk with us today.

Charles: I’m very happy to be here and to finally meet you Mara. I have to tell you that Roger is really ticked that he couldn’t be here. You know that he keeps a photo of you in his wallet, and now I can see why.

Who knew that the head of conservation at Nature Canada would be such an Arctic Fox??

Mara: Many Canadians think the Arctic seems like such a cold, desolate place. Don’t you boys get lonely up here?

Charles: Look, Mara, here’s the deal, bears by their very nature spend a lot of time on their own. Sure we get together to enjoy the odd whale supper or some tasty walrus every now and then, and I might even enjoy the odd evening with the ladies, but truthfully, we are loners. And most of the time we like it that way.

Mara: What do you do for fun?

Charles: Well, my idea of a really good time is to get my favourite snack, a couple of Arctic brews and a comfy seat to watch the Northern Lights. It has to be one of the most beautiful sights anywhere in the world.

Mara: Most southerners have heard of global warming. They may even think that you’d welcome a little more warmth and that the lack of ice would make your life easier.

Charles: That totally misses the point! We not only want ice, we need it!!

Without sea ice, we can’t hunt for seal, and that not only leaves us hungry, it hinders reproduction. You do not want to see me when I’m hungry!

We need the snow for dens when we are cubbing. We need permafrost or the whole area would be one big swamp. Besides, the snow and ice keep people away. I’ve seen what happens to habitat when humans move in, and it ain’t pretty.

Mara: I hear you, but will climate change really make that much difference to polar bears?

Charles: Look, we have evolved over thousands of years to be able to live in this arctic. If it changes much more, if the ice continues to disappear, if the hole in the ozone isn’t repaired, what are we meant to do? Where can we go? How will we survive??
I don’t even want to think about it!

Mara: One last question: does Roger really have a tattoo?

Charles: Yes he does, and I won’t tell you where, but I will tell you what it says “The South Pole is for Amateurs!”

© 2006, Nature Canada, all rights reserved.

Thank you to Cuppa Coffee for donating their time to create the Charles and Roger video. Thanks also to Andrew Horne, Shauna Lidtkie, Mat Forsberg, Aydin Suatac, Alex Suatac, Richard Dietz and Bartmart audio.