International experts are testing artificial intelligence-powered “doorbell cameras” designed to warn of approaching polar bears as the risk of human encounters grows. The device, called Bear-vision, is being developed by conservation group Polar Bears International as one of several solutions to protect both people and bears.
How Bear-vision works
Bear-vision builds on the group’s existing Bear-dar technology, which combines radar and cameras to sense motion in the Arctic landscape and then identify and monitor nearby animals. The organisation said Bear-vision will offer an affordable and easy-to-use early warning system that can alert homes and businesses to approaching bears.
The first Bear-vision system is being deployed at a waste facility in Churchill, a northern town on the coast of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. The aim is to help the community manage and monitor the area, especially as polar bears gather nearby to wait for the Hudson Bay to freeze over so they can hunt seals, and thousands of tourists arrive to see them.
Growing need for coexistence
The annual Polar Bear Week 2026, hosted by Polar Bears International, begins on Sunday to coincide with the gathering of the bears. The organisation said the animals now wait on land for about a month longer than their grandparents did because of climate-driven ice loss, making measures for safe coexistence between the town and the animals increasingly important.
Krista Wright, executive director of Polar Bears International, said: “We’re grateful to the Churchill community, who we’ve been honoured to work with over the decades on human-polar bear co-existence, ensuring that conservation benefits not just wildlife but the community too. We’re experiencing first-hand how co-existence is becoming part of everyday life in more places.”
Other deterrent methods being explored
Elsewhere, the group is exploring other novel methods to safely ward off bears, including drones. Polar Bears International and Brigham Young University are collaborating with Churchill’s Polar Bear Alert Programme to test drones as an affordable and non-lethal way to move bears away from communities safely. This deterrent research project is also testing ultrasonic sound, conductive materials, and a new odour-based bear spray formula.
Polar Bear International said the doorbell camera technology was being tested at the Churchill waste dump to keep polar bears away from the facility. This follows a fire that destroyed the site in 2024, which led to bears pawing through the rubbish to find food and raised concerns about hungry polar bears ingesting toxic rubbish and being attracted by the smell of food waste. The team has also installed new electric fences, deployed its Bear-dar technology, and sent a group of experts from Churchill to tour a similar waste management facility in Greenland.
