The Story
As the Arctic changes faster than ever, veteran polar bear guide Dennis Compayre (Polar Bear Town) prepares for an epic journey; to follow polar bears for an entire year and find out how they survive despite treacherous conditions and a changing climate.
Kingdom of the Polar Bears is a two-part documentary series that tells the tale of a mother polar bear as she introduces her two newborn cubs to their icy world for the first time and also provides some surprising evidence for how these animals are adapting to the change.
Episode One:
Dennis Compayre has lived his entire life among polar bears, and on the precipice of retirement, his last mission is to see first-hand how polar bears are surviving. Using technology, gut instinct and his years of experience, he takes us out into the frozen north to witness the cubs as they venture out of the birthing den for the very first time and follow their mother out on to Hudson Bay to learn how to hunt.
Episode Two:
The mom and cubs are out on the ice facing unpredictable weather and predators threatening the young cubs. Summer arrives and the bears return to shore. Compayre meets Robert Rockwell, a population biologist and ecologist who has been researching how bears are adapting. An amazing discovery offshore gives Compayre hope for the bears’ future.
Kingdom of the Polar Bears reveals the amazing ways the polar bears of Hudson Bay are fighting to survive in a changing world, asking a crucial question: is it possible for the bears to adapt in time?
A Merit Motion Pictures/Films à Cinq (Capa Presse) Production, in association with Earth Touch, Two Wise Monkeys, Wolfhouse, National Geographic, France Télévisions and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation