Quest for the Polar Bear (Patreon)

We learned something over the past month... It's very very difficult to find quality audio recordings of polar bears. While this will not be an issue for our show for some time (or will it?) we wanted to share just how much work goes into making certain elements as authentic as possible.

Step 1: Internet search. 

We checked the usual places where people post audio for free. We checked the places where people can pay to purchase audio. We checked nature archives. We checked zoo archives. We checked national archives. We checked youtube. We found a total of 3 audio clips that were recorded on a decent microphone and generally free of other noises that ruin the audio (i.e. cameras and people at a zoo, heavy winds, etc).

Step 2: Zoos.

We started with the Portland Zoo (we were in Portland at the time) but their bear, Nora, moved the week before we arrived. We tried the Baltimore Zoo (we were there for an event) but it was cub season (no access to the bears for a few months, except for essential personnel). We called every zoo in America that has a polar bear (there really aren't that many to begin with). We called every zoo in Canada that has a polar bear (again, not that many). None of them had audio on file and none of them would allow us a means of recording the audio. We now know the names of every polar bear in captivity in North America!

Step 3: National Geographic and beyond.

Surprisingly, National Geographic doesn't have anything in stock in high quality, and the BBC only has two files (one of which is a duplicate of the first file). Unknown to most, many of the sound clips we hear on nature documentaries are rarely recorded on site. The actual audio is generally swapped with better quality recordings of similar animals or filled in with stock audio acquired from somewhere else. There are some semi-public databases, which yielded no results for me, but I'm also checking the private collection of Nat Geo through an agent and we should have an idea if there's anything worth digging up in the coming weeks. I've also reached out to a few international museums of natural history that might have something on file.

Step 4: Other Options

Polar Bears International. They're the biggest organization in the world that's dedicated to polar bear conservation. I'm attempting to make contact with them and we'll see how things go. Alternatively, we're looking into a tour offered in Canada that allows tourists to see polar bears in the wild. They generally seem a bit more pricey than we could afford, but I'm seeing if any of their guides might be open to recording something for us.

Puppy Tax: Eezo in some dynamic lighting!